Cincinnati Reds

Baseball can be a cruel game. The numbers are the numbers, and they never lie. If you look at the boxscore from Saturday night's 11-5 Reds victory over the Royals, it will show you that Johnny Cueto pitched six innings, allowed five earned runs, and had four walks.

Hot hitting has been the reason for the Reds' success to this point. It may astonish you to know that four of the top 11 batters in the National League wear Cincinnati uniforms.

That is correct. Scott Rolen is currently fifth in the league at .309, Brandon Phillips is ninth at .304, while Jonny Gomes and Joey Votto are tied at 10th, both batting .301.

I haven't researched it but I bet it has been a good while since four Reds have been in the Top 10 in batting this far into the season.

Surprise! Pete Rose is back in the news.

Apparently, there is a collector who has x-rayed one of Rose's old bats. He has discovered that the bat has something in it that may be cork or a similar substance. He even has some evidence that the bat was used in a game.

This is not really news, as a 2001 Vanity Fair article made the same allegations.

Here is why we should not care.

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Like Jason Vorhees from the Friday the 13th films , the Cincinnati Reds are a hard bunch to kill. I think that's what I enjoy most about this season's version of the Redlegs (among many other items I thoroughly enjoy).

The Cincinnati Reds were able to turn around their four-game series against the San Francisco Giants Wednesday night with a 6-3 win.

So, after losing twice to the Giants earlier in the week, what changed in this game that allowed the Reds to win?

For starters, the Reds did a much better job manufacturing runs. That’s the obvious difference shown by the final score. The six runs they scored were the most they've tallied in a game thus far in the series.

The Reds also did a better job of batting, and giving themselves an opportunity to score the runs they did.

Aroldis Chapman is one of the most talked about prospects in baseball, though it is becoming increasingly questionable if he will make a fantasy impact in 2010. 

He’s shown some good and some bad during his time at Triple-A, but the one constant has been struggles with his control (which many feared before he signed).  Let’s take a look at his numbers thus far:

5 Wins
54.2 Innings
4.45 ERA
1.59 WHIP
61 Strikeouts (10.2 K/9)
34 Walks (5.7 BB/9)
.339 BABIP

Miami catcher Yasmani Grandal wasn't supposed to be on the board when the Reds selected at 12th, but when he was, they were quick to pick him up.

Grandal came into the draft as one of the most polished prospects after spending three years at Miami. He has already garnered honors and accolades for his play this year and was named a first team All-American.

The pick looks solid.

Grandal is a safe pick due to his college experience. He is currently batting .412, tops in the ACC, with 14 home runs, and 56 RBIs for the Hurricanes.

Bronson Arroyo was again the victim of bullpen mismanagement.

Arroyo has a knack for being the best pitcher in the Central Division one night and the worst pitcher who ever pitched an inning the next night.

He pitched a very good game Sunday, giving up six hits and two runs in eight strong innings. His day was done, and he left the game trailing 2-1.

The 40 year old Ken Griffey Jr. retired earlier this week after playing professional baseball since he was 19. He will always be remembered for his time in Seattle, not in Cincinnati. In the late 90's he was the best player in the game and was in the discussion for possibly being the best all around player ever.

The announcement ends a 22-year run in the major leagues that included 13 all-star selections, 630 home runs, 10 Gold Gloves and a .284 career batting average.

Pardon my ignorance.

You can still be a "knowledgeable" baseball fan without knowing everything. Just ask me and I will tell you....that I don't know it all.

Some things are done for a purpose, just like breathing for example. In some other things, their points of origin are not so easily decided.