Awards Part II

Here are some more awards:

Greg Vaughn Award (Best new hitter acquisition) goes to........

Jerry Hairston Jr. I almost confused him with Jerry Hairston Sr. Thank goodness he keeps that Jr. on the end. This is the one Dusty signing that didn't tank. He played well when not injured. Unfortunately, he only managed 80 games and 260 AB's. If he could stay healthy for an entire season, he could be useful. Too bad he hasn't played more then 120 games since 2002 and will be 32 next season. It was a good run for him but he is not the answer for next year's Reds. Having said that Dusty will resign him and Patterson and give them each starting jobs then be totally confused when the Reds only win 60 games.

Danny Jackson Award (Best new pitcher acquisition) goes to.......

Edinson Volquez. Coco was a close second. I know Coco had his ups and downs but it was recently revealed that he had a problem with his foot all year. Add that to his 136 ERA+ and having an anchor in the ninth to open up Weathers and Burton for the 7th and 8th, major trouble spots for last years Reds and Coco comes in a close second. Volquez is the winner. I would trade Josh Hamilton again in a hearbeat. I would give his stats but I have a feeling he will get another award.

Chris Sabo Award (Best rookie hitter) goes to.......

Joey Votto. Could make a good case that he is the Rookie of the Year in the NL. Here are his and Soto's numbers. Guess which one are his.

Player A: .297/.368/.506, 32 2b's, 24 hr's, 84 rbi's, 124 OPS+
Player B: .285/.364/.506, 25 2b's, 23 hr's 86 rbi's, 122 OPS+

Eerily similar. Votto is player A and looking at purely offensive stats, he is better. Soto plays a much tougher position on a team headed to the playoffs so he should win the award. I'm just saying that it is close. I think he isn't going to win because all the voters hate Canadians like Votto. I know I do.

Scott Williamson Award (Best rookie pitcher) goes to.......

Johnny Cueto. He had his ups and downs but at the end of the day, you have to remember that he is 22 years old, started 31 games and won 9 times, threw 174 innings while posting a 94 ERA+, and 158 K's. If he continues to improve, he, Volquez, Harang, and Arroyo could be the more formidable top 4 in the division. Owings, Bailey, and any other pitcher simply need to hold down the 5th spot and the rotation is set.

Johnny Bench Award (Best Hitter) goes to.......

Adam Dunn. I know he only played on the team until August 10th but he put up another monster year with 32 hr's and 74 rbi's in only the 113 games in a Reds uniform. His OPS+ of 130 is tops among regular players and his 197 OPS+ with RISP and 2 outs shows he got it done when it mattered. I love the big donkey, and I miss the big donkey.

Mario Soto Award (Best Pitcher) goes to......

Edinson Volquez. He was electric. His struggles after the all-star break took him out of contention for the Cy Young but he was still a legit all-star who could strike out 10 batters any start. Here are his stats: 24 years old, 32 starts with 17 wins, 196 inning with an ERA+ of 140, and 206 K's. Ridiculous numbers from a kid who is still improving. Another year of work under the tutalige of Mario Soto and he could be one of the top 5 starters in the NL.

Dave Miley Award (Most clueless manager) goes to.......

Dusty Baker. He needs to be fired now and replaced with a competent person. Hell, I will take someone with a pulse at this point. Anyone would know Bako and Patterson can't play baseball. O well, the blog will continue until my dream is realized and someone else is managing my beloved Reds.

Dusty's terrible moves

So many bad moves it is difficult to remember them all. Here is a quick list of the easy ones. Feel free to add any others.

-Playing Corey Patterson. This is listed first for obvious reasons. Dusty loves Corey and not because he is dating Dusty's daughter. Dusty had to come out against that rumor in the papers. Corey must love Dusty because he is on pace for almost 400 PA's and an OPS+ of 48 while making 3 million. The move was done because Dusty wanted it done. Now he keeps playing Corey hoping he will turn it around and make the investment worth it. I wish someone would wake him up and tell him the season is over and getting some rookies some extra AB's and experience would not be a bad idea

-Playing Paul Bako. Like Corey, this is another of Dusty's guys he brought in and continues to throw out there even though he is 36, and has an OPS+ of 58 while his heir apparent, Ryan Hanigan, has an OPS+ of 90 in very limited action. Maybe he should play more because John Fay did some checking and found the Reds are 14-8 when he starts and the pitchers have a 3.68 ERA. So Bako is a worse hitter and he calls an equal or worse game. Why is he playing again?

-Overusing some young arms. Volquez has pitched 200 innings. 24 year olds who, 2 years ago pitched only 120 innings, should not throw 200 innings for a 5th place team. Cueto is 22 and will pitch over 180 innings this year. These two are the cornerstone of our future. They should have been given more days off in September once the season was essentially over. Better to have them in September next year for a few more starts then overwork them this year.

-The San Diego debacle. Aaron Harang was ruined for two months thanks to Dusty's terrible decision making. Aaron threw 4 innings on 3 days rest. He went into a total tailspin after that and landed on the DL. Hopefully he will be back to 100% by the beginning of next year so he can return to his old form. Without him, the Reds will be in big trouble.

What else?

Reds pitching; Thank God for Volquez

Dusty has a reputation for being tough on pitchers. Some of it is true; some of it is not true. Did he overuse Prior and Wood early in their careers? Yes. Have either of them been healthy the last 3 years without Dusty? No. Wood has at least pitched some the past two years but Prior has never been healthy. SI did an article about Tim Lincecum discussing mechanics of pitchers and noted that Prior had a terrible delivery that was an injury waiting to happen. Wood has rebounded and, if he can stop getting blisters, can remain relatively healthy. Neither is throwing 120+ pitches on a regular basis like they did in 2003.

Dusty has seemingly learned from that. Volquez has not exceeded 120 pitches in any outing this season (but he did throw 39 on one days rest) and Cueto has not either while throwing 100+ in only 11 of his 25 starts. Not bad on the young arms. Volquez has struggled since the 39 pitches on 1 day rest debacle. Some of that can be contributed to regressing to the mean but he has posted a 3.65 ERA and 1.3+ WHIP. He was at 1.34/1.2 before that but those number could not be sustained. Overall, Volquez still has an ERA+ of 165 and should pitch no more then 200 innings. Much better then most anticipated but a few more days rest before the end of the year to keep his innings at 180 would be nice. The season is over and we are going to need him for many years if the Reds will ever compete for a playoff spot. This season the Reds are 17-9 when he starts and 38-61 when he does not. Ouch.

Cueto has been up and down which is what can be expected from a rookie pitcher. He has an ERA+ of 92 and a WHIP under 1.4, not bad for a 22 years old rookie who had only pitched 4 games above AA ball before this season. His ERA has dropped the past 2 months and he should continue to improve his final 6 starts while throwing around 190 innings. Not bad for a rookie. The Reds are 10-15 when he starts but he has gotten 3 or fewer runs from his offense in 14 of those 25 starts. A little more luck and he can finish with a .500 record.

Harang has been a disaster this year. He began the year pitching well and getting no run support. After the 4 innings on two days rest in San Diego back in May, he has been terrible. Check out the difference:

Pre-Dusty Destruction: 3.50 ERA and 1.2 WHIP.
Post-Dusty Destruction: 9.06 ERA and 1.9 WHIP.

This was the ace of the Reds the previous 2 years and now he is getting beaten like a red-headed step child. I put the blame on Dusty because he had been pretty good before the debacle in San Diego. Now he reminds me of "Batting Practice" Danny Graves. The Reds are 8-14 when he starts. Just terrible from the ace of your staff.

The rest of the staff has been alright. Arroyo pitches different every time out but stays healthy and the Reds are 13-13 when he pitches. Fogg started terrible and has come back to be what a 5th starter usually is, 5 innings, 3 runs. Bailey didn't have a good run but is only 22 and should be given more time. Volquez was 1-10 when he was 22 so I will give Homer a few more years. Thompson showed signs of greatness but needs more development. Belisle was not good and is now injured.

The bullpen has actually been mediocre, which is a huge improvement over a year ago. Burton has pitched well when healthy as has Bill Bray and David "Stormy" Weathers. Cordero has been great at times and awful at times. Maybe a 4 year deal wasn't the best idea but he has not been that big of a disappointment. ERA+ of 115 and a few blown saves.

Overall, the pitching staff needs to be tweaked a little, making Volquez and Cueto the 1-2 punch and Arroyo and Harang 3-4 with Homer, Thompson, or anyone else getting the 5 slot. I sure hope Dusty does the smart thing and eases up on Volquez and Cueto because we will need them healthy for the next few years because this season is done. Chicago this week. Let's spoil the fun up on the North Side. Their fans need to come back to earth.