Last night was a tough one to swallow, but the pitching staff is making the Reds a tough team to beat. Mike Leake will hope that continues, following up on his best start of the season. He went 8 innings in his last start and struck out a career-high 12, en route to the first win of the SF series. He had a similar 8 inning, 1 run performance when he faced the Padres at GABP earlier this year, and the way he's pitching he could outdo that tonight.
He'll face off against Ian Kennedy for the Padres, who gave up 5 runs when he faced the Reds earlier this year. He's had his struggles of late, but has pitched the Reds to a 2.55 ERA in his career.
Normal lineup but with Skipper getting the start in LF.
The jerk store called, they're out of cups! (Am I doing this right? I'm not a Seinfeld fan.)
If you're one of those people who think the Padres' record/performance this season should disqualify them from any fun-having, then this post is not for you.
Jedd Gyorko is currently sitting on the Padres sidelines, out with plantar fasciitis for almost a month now. But even though he can't contribute on the field or at the plate, he's still providing some support for the team... in the form of humor.
During the Padres-Reds game tonight, Gyorko's teammates decided to play a prank on him. The old gum-and-cup-on-the-hat trick, or something like that. See for yourself:
He had no idea that was on his head. I'm not sure what he's making that face for, or who he's making it at, but it's hilarious considering there is a cup stuck to his hat that he doesn't know about. Mark Grant commented that they should've tried to get some water in the cup so that it spills when he puts his head down and he's like, "Where is this water coming from?" But Dick suggested that the weight of the water might give away the prank, to which Mudcat replied, "Some guys just don't get it."
Now here's Gyorko clapping, still completely unaware of the cup on his head, after Kevin Quackenbush records the final out of the inning.
The best part is seeing the other players and coaches in the dugout try to keep straight faces as they walk past him or look at him. Look at Odrisamer Despaigne trying SO hard not to laugh.
It's good seeing the team not only winning, but having some fun. As Padres fans we may not have the most to cheer about a lot of the time, but things like this are good reminders that baseball is fun and really we're all just watching a bunch of grown men playing a game.
UPDATE: Yasmani Grandal and Gyorko tweeted the following after the game...
Ian Kennedy has pitched solidly this season, but like most of the Padres' rotation, hasn't had much run support, averaging 2.4 runs per game. Tonight was a little different, as the offense rained destruction on Cincinnati pitching. With Seth Smith leading the way, the team scored 8 runs on a season high 16 hits. Every single starter picked up at least a base knock, including Kennedy himself. Four players had multi-hit games, and Smith and Carlos Quentin both homered, Smith to the Jack Deck, Quentin to the Western Metal Building. With run support like that, Kennedy could have taken it easy, but he only gave the Reds a single run on 7 hits and a walk in 6 innings of work.
It didn't take long for the Friars to get on the board, with Smith homering off Mike Leake's third pitch. They added on the very next inning, thanks to a trio of two-out singles from Alexi Amarista, Irving Falu, and Ian Kennedy. Things settled down for a few innings after that, with both teams going scoreless in the third and fourth. The Reds, like Darkwing Duck, got dangerous in the fourth, with singles from Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier putting them on the board. Smith was determined to get that run right back, leading off the bottom half of the inning with a double before scoring on Chase Headley's RBI single.
If the Padres' lineup had called it a night after the fifth, it might have been a tense evening, but instead they dropped a crooked number after the 7th Inning Stretch. Smith led off with yet another hit before scoring on Quentin's towering home run. Yasmani Grandal followed up with a free pass, with Tommy Medica moving him along with a line drive single. Cameron Maybin brought Grandal home for the third run of the inning. Medica would follow him in courtesy of a two-error play by Joey Votto. There was one more run in store for the good guys, and it started with a leadoff pinch-hit single by Will Venable. He went to second on a wild pitch and was awarded third on a balk. Quentin picked up his third RBI of the night, bringing Will home on a sacrifice fly.
With a massive lead, Tim Stauffer took the hill in the ninth, and it was, well, less than good. Devin Mesoraco hit a leadoff homer to center field, and Skip Schumaker followed up with a single. A double play eased tensions considerably, but things got scary again when a couple singles and a walk loaded the bases full of Reds. It looked like former Friar Ryan Ludwick was going to keep the rally going when Todd Frazier beat Headley's throw to second, but Buddy Black came out to challenge the call. A few minutes later, Frazier was ruled out and the game was over.
Tyson Ross will go for the sweep tomorrow. Head out to the ballpark at 12:40 PM to catch Bobby Cressey's sweet tunes on the organ and cheer on our boys!
The bats went silent, the pitching fooled few, and the Reds dropped another to the Padres.
The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Devin Mesoraco launched yet another dinger, and while his 15th of the season was merely a solo shot in the 9th inning of an otherwise disappointing game, it was the single biggest hit from a Cincinnati Reds hitter all evening. Mes finished 2 for 4 with that dinger and that RBI, and that was more than enough to take home the JNMHSotG award for the game.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Billy Hamilton, who went 2 for 5 with a double and his 35th stolen base; Todd Frazier, who went 1 for 4 with an RBI single, a walk, and a stolen base (his 13th); and Zack Cozart, who went 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Key Plays
Mike Leake was rarely sharp in his outing in his hometown of San Diego, and the Padres managed to smack him around for 11 hits in his 5.2 IP. Seth Smith launched a solo dinger to lead off the Bottom of the 1st, and consecutive singles from Alexi Amarista, Irving Falu, and pitcher Ian Kennedy plated another in the Bottom of the 2nd. Reds trailed, 2-0.
The good guys got one back in the Top of the 3rd, however, thanks to some productive small ball. Cozart reached on an infield single, and ended up on 3B after a pair of ground outs. He then scored on a single from Frazier to CF. Reds trailed, 2-1.
The wheels fell off from there, unfortunately. Chase Headley followed a leadoff double from Smith with an RBI single in the Bottom of the 5th, and the bullpen then got rocked in the Bottom of the 7th. Logan Ondrusek started the inning and promptly allowed a Smith single and a 2-run dinger to Carlos Quentin. J.J. Hoover was brought on after Ondrusek allowed another walk and a single, but an RBI single by Cameron Maybin and a Joey Votto error at 1B allowed another two runs to score. Reds trailed, 7-1.
Carlos Contreras was tasked with pitching the Bottom of the 8th, and a hit, walk, wild pitch, and sac-fly cost him a run, too. Mesoraco's blast was all that was left, and that was that. Reds lose, 8-2.
FanGraph With No Memory of the San Francisco Sweep
Todd Frazier is on pace to steal 25 bags this year, and he's got a very legitimate shot and a 30/30 season. There are currently two players in all of baseball slugging over .500 with at least 13 steals: Todd Frazier and Carlos Gomez. There are only four players in all of baseball slugging .500 with at least 10 steals: Frazier, Gomez, Andrew McCutchen, and Mike Trout. You sure know how to keep nice company, Todd.
This loss means the Reds have lost their first series in their last 8, a stretch that saw them win 6 and split 1.
A 7-3 road trip sounds infinitely more awesome than a 6-4 road trip, so that's what is at stake when Johnny Cueto takes the mound in the third game of the series and final game of the road trip on Wednesday afternoon. Someone remind the Reds to bring their bats this time.
A return of the 36-year-old right-hander would make sense for Detroit. Can the Tigers make it happen?
Wait, why did the Tigers let Joaquin Benoit walk again? Maybe they'll make up for that mistake. USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports the Padres are going to make the reliever available and Benoit's former team is one of the most interested ones.
The #Padres are letting teams know that Benoit is available and #Tigers are among teams quite interested.
Benoit pitched in 66 games for the Tigers in 2013 and 205 for his Detroit career. He finished 43 games last year. He had an ERA of 2.01 and a WHIP of 1.03.
In 2014 with San Diego Benoit has a 1.30 ERA and 0.721 WHIP. He has 39 strikeouts in 35 innings, along with seven walks. So he's still pretty good.
The bullpen is Detroit's big issue right now, with Joe Nathan inconsistent and a handful of ineffective arms and injuries leaving Detroit with no one but right-hander Joba Chamberlain to trust. (And maybe Phil Coke? Maybe? Jury's still out!)
The Tigers need help. Benoit can help.
WHY THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE
::null set::?
Why might it not happen? Benoit is a quarter way through a two-year, $15.5 million deal. That's not cheap but it's not pricey either. (Compare that to Joe Nathan's $20 million.) He's really proven. He's good. So other teams will want him, too. The only knock is that he's spent most of his time, excluding the second half of last year, as a setup man. So if teams don't see him as a closer, the price may scare them off. Which would actually be a good thing for Detroit, right? Let's hope for that.
LIKELIHOOD: 7/10
It would be great if it happens. It would make sense to happen. But there's just no guarantees in these sorts of things.
Smith, acquired from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for reliever Luke Gregersonover the winter, is in the midst of a career season in what was supposed to be his walk year. The left-handed corner outfield is hitting .281/.384/.506 with a .389 wOBA, 155 wRC+, and 2.2 WAR.
Smith was thought by many to have a high likelihood of being traded this month, but that appears not to be the case. According to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, as part of the deal, Smith has been assured that San Diego will not be dealing him anytime soon.
The move is rather curious considering San Diego is 10.5 games back in the NL West, and things don't appear to be getting much brighter over the next two years, especially with powerhouses such as the Dodgers and Giants in the division. It also stands to reason that San Diego could have brought back a worthwhile prospect by dealing Smith, which makes the signing all the more questionable.
To think that Smith can improve his stock would be foolish, as he has only once topped 2.0 WAR in a season once prior to this year, and is generally regarded as a sub-par defender. He has also shown a heavy platoon split throughout his career, notching a .851 OPS versus righties, but just a .591 OPS against left-handers. However, as Dave Cameron notes at Fangraphs, San Diego does do well financially here, as Smith likely would have received more had he been able to test the open market this offseason.
The signing is the first major transaction made since Josh Byrnes' firing from the general manager position just over a week ago. The organization's baseball operations are currently being led by the trio of assistant GMs AJ Hinch and Fred Uhlman, as well as Senior VP Omar Minaya.
With Smith off the market, the trade market for position players has taken a rather sizable hit, as he quite possibly may have been the best hitter available that had a reasonable chance of being dealt. His absence likely leaves Alex Rios, Ben Zobrist, and fellow Padre Chase Headley as the top available position players, though none of them are close to sure things to be traded.
For San Diego, Smith's signing does improve the probability that they deal one of their three remaining outfielders in Chris Denorfia, Will Venable, and Carlos Quentin. San Diego has shopped the trio in the past, with Denorfia drawingbuzz as recently as yesterday.
The man leading the Padres offense has signed a two-year contract worth at least $13 million.
When Josh Byrnes sent Luke Gregerson to Oakland in exchange for Seth Smith, the reaction was not very kind. Obviously, that negativity seems silly in hindsight. Not only was Gregerson replaced with the more than capable Joaquin Benoit, but Smith has been the most dangerous bat in the (admittedly historically bad) lineup. His .281 batting average beats out runner up Chris Denorfia by more than 30 points, and he leads the team in doubles, triples, and home runs. He does all of that while also being a capable outfielder. But with his contract expiring at the end of the season, many fans expected to see him leave San Diego by July 31. The Padres currently nebulous GM-by-committee instead chose to sign him for two more years.
The new deal will keep Smith in Padres colors (whatever they may be) through his age 33 season, earning him $6 million in 2015 and $6.75 million in 2016. The team has a $7 million club option for 2017, with a dirt cheap buyout of $250,000. The only question left is if he'll still be sharing playing time with Carlos Quentin come August 1.
Ian Kennedy did a masterful job not letting on to Goebbert that he is being pranked. At one point, Goebber looked behind him at some of the players trying to get throw seeds in the cup. Somehow he still didn't catch on. He thought they were just throwing seeds at him.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. Later in the game we found out the culprit behind the cup prank. And it's not even the least bit surprising.
That's Andrew Cashner sticking a cup on Troy Patton after Goebbert soon after Goebbert discovered he was being pranked. Good to see our ace is keeping his spirits up while he's on rehab.
In Tyson Ross's season and a half with the Padres, he's proven himself to be a reliable middle of the rotation starter. You know, he's the guy that keeps you in the game, but never quite dominates the opposition. Until today, that is. In the first complete game of his career, Ross shut out the Reds, allowing just three hits while striking out nine. Almost as impressive were the three runs of backup the offense gave him, as Reds' starter Johnny Cueto has been among the best in baseball. Cueto held a 1.88 ERA and 0.836 WHIP prior to today's start. Undaunted, the Friars touched him for 7 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings.
The game's only runs came in the bottom of the first. With one out, Chris Denorfia and Chase Headley hit back to back singles. Tommy Medica, the only position player who didn't get a hit today, drew a walk to load the bases. Will Venable flew out to shallow right field, so it was going to take a hit to get a run home. Rene Rivera stepped to the plate and hit a bloop single to center. Since the runners were going on contact, it ended up being a bases clearing bloop single. With the scoring done, it was all on Tyson, who cruised through the rest of the 2 hour and 20 minute game.
With their first sweep of the season in hand and the bullpen extremely well rested, the Padres will take on the Giants Friday afternoon. Eric Stults will throw the first pitch at 3:40 PM.
If hired, she would become the first female general manager within the four major sports.
MLB Senior Vice President for Baseball Operations Kim Ng is set to interview for the San Diego Padres' general manager position, per CBS Sports' Jon Heyman. An assistant GM with the Dodgers and Yankees prior to her post with MLB, Ng is familiar with the inner workings of front offices. Ng would be the first female general manager in any of the four major sports if she was hired for the position.
She is also no stranger to the interview process; Ng has previously interviewed for general manager positions with the Dodgers, Mariners and Padres (when they hired Jed Hoyer). Padres CEO Mike Dee stated earlier today that any final decision on the GM front would likely be made following the conclusion of the July 31 trade deadline.
The Padres are choosing from a pool of candidates that also includes Padres assistant GM A.J. Hinch, Red Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen, Dodgers scouting director/assistant GM Logan White, former Marlins GM Larry Beinfest, Rangers assistant GM A.J. Preller and Yankees Assistant GM Billy Epler. Those who have withdrawn their names from consideration include A's assistant GM David Forst, Cubs scouting director Jason McLeod and Padres VP Omar Minaya.
I'm a nerd about uniform numbers, so when I hear that the Padres acquired or called someone up one of the first things I do is try to find out what number he'll be wearing. Fortunately for me, other people also care about such minutia, so Brooks Conrad's number was already public knowledge when I woke up from an impromptu nap.
I knew a handful of former elevens off the top of my head, but I headed over to Baseball-Reference's uniform number history page for the team to see the whole list. I'm glad it's that convenient now; up until a couple years ago they didn't have them all listed together, and I'd have to go through year-by-year to manually create lists of players for each number. Oh, the dark ages.
Enzo Hernandez wore #11 the longest, barely edging out Flan by 14 games, 710 to 696. Flannery played 276 games with the Padres before receiving 11; he gave up his #6 when the team signed Steve Garvey. Then again, Flan did wear 11 again when he came back as a coach, so that counts for something.
The list includes two guys who played only two games with the Padres - Manuel and Stewart.
Manuel is also part of another sub-pair: He and Ausmus went on to become major league managers.
In case you didn't know, or had forgotten, Craig Stansberry is the first major league player who was born in Saudi Arabia. Also, the stansberries taste like stansberries.
I was grasping at straws trying to think of a subject for a quiz earlier, and players' middle names crossed my mind. That would make for a horrible quiz, though, because players' middle names are something you rarely see in the first place, let alone commit to memory. However, it did seem like it'd be worthwhile to put together a list in case this happened to be interesting to even one other person. Since every roster I know of lists them by just the name they're commonly known by, I went to the 40-man roster on the team's official site and clicked through to every player's page one-by-one. I also looked up a few other guys who aren't on the 40-man, but were with the team earlier and are now in El Paso.
Before I got started, I quizzed myself informally in my trusty brainstorming sketch pad. I was able to get Amarista, Cashner, Gyorko, Kennedy and Venable, but Kennedy was low-hanging fruit since his nickname is IPK. Once I looked everyone up, there were a few others I felt like I should have remembered. What follows is the full list, and below that, a few additional thoughts.
Alexi Jose Amarista
Joaquin Antonio Benoit
Blaine Thomas Boyer
William Jennings Buckner
Andrew Burton Cashner
Brooks Litchfield Conrad
Christopher Anthony Denorfia
Robert Joseph Erlin
Reymond Louis Fuentes
Jacob Dwayne Goebbert
Jedd Lindon Gyorko
Jesse Allen Hahn
Chase Jordan Headley
Ryan Christopher Jackson
Joshua Michael Johnson
Casey Patrick Kelly
Ian Patrick Kennedy
Jason Dean Lane
Rymer Omar Liriano
Cory Robert Luebke
Cameron Keith Maybin
Thomas Anthony Medica
Troy Jamieson Patton
Jace Ryan Peterson
Kevin Robert Quackenbush
Carlos Jose Quentin
Donn Mitchell Roach
Tyson William Ross
Burch Taylor Smith
Garry Seth Smith
Timothy James Stauffer
Huston Lowell Street
Eric William Stults
Dale Scott Thayer
Alexander Jesus Torres
William Dion Venable
Nicholas James Vincent
Joseph Andrew Wieland
-Yonder Alonso, Everth Cabrera, Odrisamer Despaigne, Irving Falu, Yasmani Grandal, Rene Rivera, and Hector Ambriz are all like my sister Katie, in that none of them have a middle name.
-Five middle names are tied for the top spot with two each: William, Patrick, Jose, James, Robert, and, best of all, Anthony.
-Garry Smith is the only one who goes by his middle name. I think he made the right call.
-I don't know how I went all these years without noticing, or it registering, that Chase Headley's middle name is Jordan. That is just the sweater tied around the neck of an already-very prep-school name.
-Dale Thayer has the worst possible first-and-middle name combination. Dale Scott, Umpire: Never forgive, never forget.
The West Coast swing finished with a resounding dud.
There was a moment on Sunday where I thought it would be impossible to be let down by a team that had stormed San Francisco, taken all 4 games on the road against the team that had boasted the NL's best record for much of 2014, and walked away tied for a playoff spot.
All it took was three days in San Diego.
The Reds wrapped up their 10 game, 3 city road trip with a 6-4 record that fails to accurately describe the highs and lows of the excursion. After wiping the floor with the then 1st place Giants, the Reds were promptly skunked (twice) and punked (thrice) by the Padres, the most underwhelming team in baseball.
The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
The offense, aside from Todd Frazier's 2 singles and Brayan Pena's NERTY double, did absolutely nothing. No walks, no nothing. Therefore, Johnny Cueto gets the nod by near default, as the ace of the Cincinnati Reds pitched well despite not being his absolutely dominant self, and the 3 runs he allowed over 7 IP did nothing to discredit the fact that he was the most imposing player on the field yesterday.
Congrats on your trophy, Johnny. Congrats on your Honorable Mentions, Todd & Brayan.
Key Plays
I listened to the Bottom of the 1st on the radio, and if Marty's call of it was any indication, the damage done was nothing more than the steady gnawing of regression eating away at Cueto's stellar season stats. Remember when Cueto's strand rate was at a comical 99% some 6 starts into the 2014 season? Remember his absurd ability to escape jams with the bases loaded? Neither happened in the 1st, unfortunately, and the Padres capitalized. Both Chris Denorfia and Chase Headley singled with one out, and after Cueto walked Tommy Medica to load the bases, Rene Rivera singled softly to right center on a ball that was nearly reeled in by Billy Hamilton's speed in CF. Billy barely got to it, but couldn't hang on as he hit the ground, and being that this happened with two outs in the inning, the runners were moving on contact and the bases cleared.
The Reds took the field, recorded a few outs, went back to the dugout, recorded a few outs, and retook the field a bunch, but didn't do anything else for two hours. Reds lose, 3-0.
FanGraph Showing the Collective Happiness* Held by the Reds and Their Fans as the Road Trip Wound Down
**that doesn't work, either. This was a terrible idea.
Other Notes
Joey Votto pinch-hit late in this one, but largely got the day off. Thursday being an off day means he'll get the better part of two days of rest prior to the weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers, and hopefully that'll give his leg some added strength.
It's impossible to look at the Padres' team stats to this point and think that they're real. They just completed one of the three worst offensive months in modern baseball history in June, their pitching staff has been decimated by injuries, they recently fired their GM, and they just swept the Reds while shutting them out twice in three games. Baseball is life is pain is baseball is life is pain.
I sincerely hope each and every one of you enjoys the long Holiday weekend. Having the 4th of July on a Friday is some sort otherworldly awesomeness that Julius Randle must have scheduled on purpose when he saw this would be the year he'd get drafted. Thanks, Julius. As a word of advice, please don't try to eat more hot dogs than jch24 this weekend, either.
I was grasping at straws trying to think of a subject for a quiz earlier (stop me if you've heard this before), then I saw Jake Peavy's name, and the rest of the premise wrote itself. Since Peavy was sent to the White Sox at the trade deadline nearly five years ago, 34 pitchers have started at least one game for the Padres.
I did a B-R play index search to find the 39 pitchers who have started for the Padres from the 2009 season until today, then pored over game logs to eliminate four pitchers who started all of their games before he was traded. So, just in case you were going to guess Walter Silva, Shawn Hill, Josh Geer, or Josh Banks, you can go ahead and save your time. Consider that my gift to you, but the real reason I dropped their names was so that no one would tell me in the comments that I forgot them.
Speaking of the comments, blow 'em up, but don't forget to use spoiler bars where applicable. Also, be sure to log your score in the poll. Good luck!
The Padres recently interviewed the Diamondbacks' scouting director.
While there have been rumors aplenty that Kevin Towers might be a candidate for the Padres' vacant GM position, it is actually Arizona Diamondbacks Scouting Directory Ray Montgomery who the Padres have initially targeted from that organization. Montgomery has been with the Diamondbacks in that role since 2010. Prior to that he worked his way up the ranks in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization. He was with the Brewers for 8 seasons, the first four as an area scout, then two as their midwest scouting supervisor and the final two as their assistant scouting directory and national supervisor. Before that he was a professional baseball player for over a decade including parts of 3 seasons with the Houston Astros.
With the Brewers there aren't many picks you can attribute to him in his days as an area scout or as the midwest regional director, although it is also part of a scouts job to make sure the team refrains from picking players that he has seen and does not recommend. When he was an assistant scouting director, he seems to have earned the buzz that made him a future scouting director from the 2007-2009 drafts. Matt LaPorta, Brett Lawrie and Jake Odiorizzi were are all Brewers picks that were used to acquire major league players in trade (Sabathia, Marcum and Greinke respectively) and Jonathan LuCroy, Khris Davis and Scooter Gennett are all major league contributors now.
By joining the Diamondbacks in 2010, Montgomery is not associated with any of the Padres' old DBacks connections (Moorad, Garfinkel and Byrnes) and, in fact, was offered the Padres' scouting coordinator position back in 2009 when Hoyer was the GM and Montgomery had yet even sniffed the snakes. Montgomery did not want to relocate at the time. Then when Kevin Towers came to Arizona and fired the sitting scouting director he hired Montgomery as the replacement.
In Arizona he inherited a farm system that was already buoyed by some good players either selected by previous administration (Matt Davidson, A.J. Pollock, Chris Owings and Wade Miley) or acquired in the Dan Haren trade (Patrick Corbin and Tyler Skaggs). He also got the added benefit that the previous year's 1st round pick was not signed and thereby the team had two 1st round picks the next year. His first draft saw the selection of two premium pitching prospects in Trevor Bauer and Archie Bradley. The first is paying dividends in the form of SS Didi Gregorius for whom Kevin Towers traded the young hurler. The second is one of, if not, the top pitching prospect in baseball. The system took a step back after the graduations of Pollock, Miley and Corbin and the trade of Bauer. Since then it has been a middle of the pack farm system, but they did hit on another fine prospect in Brandon Shipley in the 2012 draft. Like his time with the Brewers there is not a lot of wow factor here, but it seems like he does a solid job on the amateur scouting front.
The Padres will be looking at more about Montgomery than just his draft picks, but as an outsider that is all that we can go on. As a scouting director you cannot give him credit for player development, trades or other processes related to the team, something that you could do with some of the other candidates because they were assistant general managers. You can only give him credit for establishing and supervising a team of scouts and try to evaluate the results of that. The Padres leadership would then have to project how he would do an expanded and more diverse role.
The 2014 All Star Game is less than two weeks away. Which Reds will make the cut?
You could make a pretty compelling case that there are six players on the Cincinnati Reds roster who deserve a trip to the 2014 MLB All Star Game in Minneapolis in 12 days. While that's a pretty solid endorsement of the talent and success on the current roster, it's a footnote to that case that I find the most interesting: Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Mat Latos, Ryan Ludwick, and Homer Bailey account for none of the six players mentioned.
None of the four highest paid position players on the Reds - each former All Stars who have combined for a total of 10 appearances - has had a first half worthy of invitation to the Midsummer Classic, nor have the two most consistent pitchers from the Reds' dominant 2012 and 2013 starting rotations. In fact, of the six guys worthy of being an All Star this season, five of them would be first timers should their names be called on Sunday's All-Star Selection Show.
It would be hard to find any team in baseball who could boast having six players with first half resumes deemed worthy of being All Stars, but you could find at least a couple with compelling arguments. However, there's no team in baseball whose group can rival the storylines being forged by the Cincinnati six.
There's the spindly rookie CF who was widely called "overmatched" after starting the season 0 for 13 with 6 strikeouts as the replacement for the 2013 Team MVP.
There's the catcher who entered 2014 with a career .225 batting average while spending his 3 years in the big leagues as a backup.
There's the starter-turned-closer-turned-waived-turned-reliever-turned-emergency starter who is having a career year at age 33.
There's 2014's best starting pitcher slicing up eyeballs after a 2013 season that was mostly lost due to injuries before a disastrous start in the one game playoff in Pittsburgh.
And there's the reliever having - by many accounts - the best season of his already illustrious career despite spending much of his Spring recovering from the spring training line drive that shattered his face and threatened his vision.
The Reds closer has already put together a four year stretch as a reliever that is as impressive as any in the modern game, but there have been a few things he's done in 2014 that even his previous career can't touch. He's striking out a career high 17.5 batters per 9 innings, his K/BB is at a career best 5.75, his 0.845 WHIP is well below his career mark of 1.00 (and is the second best mark of his career), and his FIP is at a miniscule (and career low) 0.78.
Of course, Chapman has thrown just 23.2 innings in 2014 after missing over a month while recovering from his gnarly facial fractures, so he's not compiled some of the gaudy statistics he's put up in previous seasons. That may work against his selection, but both his track record of dominance and the game's outcome determining home field advantage in the playoffs may lead to Cardinals manager Mike Matheny selecting Chapman as a weapon out of his pen in a late game scenario.
Chapman is averaging - AVERAGING - over 100 mph on his fastball, which is the best mark in baseball. I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather have in my bullpen should I be managing with the game on the line.
Billy Hamilton, CF
If you look purely at fWAR, you'll find that Billy Hamilton has been the 6th best OF in the National League in 2014. While that itself merits the rookie CF worthy of consideration for a bench spot at the All Star Game, it's the generational talent he's shown on the bases and defensively that would likely lead to him being selected if that should come to pass. At .279/.309/.400, he's shown himself to be a perfectly cromulent piece of the offense with the bat, but those simply aren't the kind of numbers that get you in the a game full of the league's biggest stars. Rather, having 35 steals to your name and ranking in the top two in the NL in runs saved, UZR, and UZR/150 while playing one of the most important defensive positions in the game warrants inclusion.
Whether as a LIDR or pinch runner, Hamilton provides the kind of skills that make him the perfect piece to have on the bench for a game-changing late inning play, and that's the kind of weapon it will be hard to leave off a roster.
★★★
Worthy Contenders
Alfredo Simon, SP
Simon is the single most surprising name in this group for no reason other than the SP listed next to his name. Once you delve beyond that, his performance is equally as surprising since he's managed to maintain the brilliance he flashed at the start of the season tens of innings farther into the season than even his staunchest supports would have hoped for.
His success effectively relegated Tony Cingrani to the minors, and through 16 starts he ranks in the Top 10 in the NL in ERA, wins, win %, WHIP, H/9, WPA, average game score, OPS against, and ERA+. However, he doesn't strike out a ton of guys, isn't a big name, and may well find himself on the outside looking in despite having a career year. Hell, if Johnny Cueto and Mat Latos haven't yet made an All Star team, then it's obvious that any worthy player could be passed over.
Devin Mesoraco, C
The patiently awaited breakout of Mesoraco has finally begun, and he's mashed his way through pitchers this year at a rate not seen since the Red Reporter contingent after Game Two. His wOBA and wRC+ are the best among catchers in the NL - as is his .645 SLG - and he ranks in the top two in batting average, home runs, OPS, and RBI.
Heck, if you set the minimum PA to 190, Devin Mesoraco has the highest wRC+ in all of baseball (184), ahead of Mike Trout (182) and Troy Tulowitzki (179).
Therein lies Devin's problem, though. He's been on the DL twice already this season, and has subsequently missed a ton of time rehabbing his oblique and hamstring injuries. While his on-field production has been ridiculous, he may get knocked for having missed a big part of the season, which would be a shame. He's also facing some decent competition in his own division, as Jonathan Lucroy looks poised to be voted as the starter, and former catcher Matheny will be managing the roster while his own catcher - 5-time All Star Yadier Molina - will be available for selection as a backup, too.
★★★
The Likelies
Todd Frazier, 3B
Fortunately for the Reds otherwise messy offense, the Todd Frazier who bashed brains en route to finishing 3rd in the 2012 Rookie of the Year voting has reemerged this season after a disappointing 2013, and the Reds would probably be lost without him. The 28 year old leads all NL 3B in HR, SB, SLG, wOBA, wRC+, ISO, and Sinatra, and is 5th overall in the NL among all players in fWAR.
In fact, there are only two players in all of baseball who have at least 13 stolen bases and are slugging over .500: Frazier, and Carlos Gomez.
The Reds 3B will likely get pipped in the voting by the Brewers' Aramis Ramirez, which stinks, and he'll be up against some star-caliber names like David Wright, Pablo Sandoval, and Matt Carpenter for bench spots, but there's no denying he's been one of the game's best to this point in 2014.
Cueto showed in 2012 that when he's healthy he's as good as there is at throwing a baseball, and he's done nothing in 2014 but improve upon that. He leads all of baseball in GS, IP, CG, WHIP, and H/9, he's among the top three in the NL in bWAR, ERA, K, SHO, ERA+, and WPA, and among the top ten in FIP, W, and K/9.
He's been one of the very best starting pitchers in baseball for four years, yet he's never been an All Star due to various and sundry reasons. Unfortunately for Cueto, he's scheduled to start the Sunday before the All Star break, so while he's every bit deserving of a spot on the squad, there's a decent likelihood that he'd be unavailable even if selected, which I'm sure would be rather disappointing to him. For the Reds, though, that does mean they can squeeze in one start before the break and potentially bring him back on normal rest for the 2nd half of the season with a chance to get as many starts out of him as possible.
Or, y'know, they could just give the guy the week off since he's carried them through much of the season already.
★★★
That's six.
The All Star Game is a strange bird, anyway. It's a reward for both career achievement and for small sample size, as both Derek Jeter this season and Bryan LaHair in 2012 can attest. It's driven purely by April, May, and June, so while none of Votto, Phillips, Bruce, Bailey, or Latos have carried the Reds to this point, they may be carrying these six would-be All Stars in every category by the time October baseball rolls around.
It's fickle and it's imperfect, and I'm sure there are many professionals who will welcome a long break after grinding every day for some five months prior to this point. For some, however, it's a career achievement that sticks with both them and their BBRef page for the rest of their lives, and that's the kind of seal of approval we fans can root for.
I mean, heck, it's the only reason why I remember who Bryan LaHair is, anyway.
Yesterday was the first day of the 2014-2015 international signing period, which always runs from July 2nd to June 15th of the following year. Clubs are allowed a certain amount of money to spend on amateur talent in the pool of international players each year, and that amount, or bonus pool, depends on the team's record from the previous season. If a team overspends their bonus pool, they are forced to endure penalties, which can range from increased taxes on overages to limits on signing bonuses in following seasons.
I am, by no means, all that knowledgable on this subject and I'm still learning this stuff as I go, so for more detailed information on the workings of the international signing period, check out Craig Goldstein's primer on SB Nation. -->
San Diego signed four international players yesterday. Here's some basic information I gathered (mainly from Ben Badler and Baseball America) on the newest members of the Padres organization, including one very highly-touted prospect.
Ricardo Rodriguez
Venezuelan catcher Ricardo Rodriguez is one of the top catchers on the international market, ranking 30th among international prospects by MLB.com and 21st by Baseball America.
He might not be the fastest runner on the bases, but Rodriguez makes up for the shortcoming with a solid arm and reliable defense. He's also known for his poise, intelligence and baseball IQ.
Rodriguez projects to be an average hitter, but he does everything well -- a big reason scouts believe he should be considered among the top catchers on the prospect market.
Among catchers who project to stick at the position (Miguel Flames of Venezuela is still fairly new to the position), Rodriguez was the best catcher on the market.
Rodriguez has good footwork and catch and throw skills. He looks to be one of the better defenders in the class. I'm not a fan of the bat but he should hit for some power. He may be a defense first catcher or a backup if he makes it to the big leagues.
... Beltran’s 6-foot-4, 180-pound frame oozes projection and he’s fairly coordinated given his long, lanky frame. He has touched the low-90s and should be throwing in the mid-90s once he adds some size, with feel to spin a curveball.
He has a quick bat from the right side and is still working to make more consistent contact in games, but he shows ability to use the whole field with gap power.
Ray offers some starting pitcher options that you should consider streaming on Saturday, including Edinson Volquez and Odrisamer Despaigne.
The Streamer Report provides you with daily startng pitcher streaming selections for owners who prefer to stream starting pitchers on a daily basis. This report identifies starting pitchers who are owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues, and who either has a decent track record vs their opponent, has pitched well of late, or has a decent matchup.
