Results tagged ‘ Dusty Baker ’
What re-signing Dusty Baker really does for Cincinnati Reds
First off, I am very happy Dusty Baker re-signed with the Reds, why? Because this boosted a young team to try even harder next season. This young team only know Dusty Baker. Most of the players on the team have only had one manager and after the tough postseason loss, bringing in a new manager might have really upset the players even more. They are comfortable with Dusty, and keeping players in their comfort zone (especially after the great season they had) is very important. Many will argue that bringing Dusty back was the wrong move and they have an arm’s length of reasons but I like it because the players really wanted him back. The ownership and general manager gave the players what they wanted, now it is up to the players to prove to everyone it was the right decision.
The speed of this transaction is what really impresses me the most, this could have strung out for most of the off-season like a lot of teams do, just to create sparks within the fan base and players but Walt Jocketty got it done very quickly and now they can concentrate on more important matters, like putting together an even stronger team for 2013. Many off-seasons before, it seemed like Walt used to stumble out of the gates to get things done, but this time around he had all of his ducks in order and has really impressed me early. I have a feeling this move will get him moving faster this off-season to get the players they need.
So, let the fun begin. Go Walt, Go!!!!
Wow, that was fast!!!
Cincinnati Reds General Manager, Walt Jocketty re-signed Reds Manager, Dusty Baker today to a two-year contract and I am very happy to see this happen so fast. The players really loved Dusty so this gives them something to really be happy about this off-season. Which in my mind is very good, after the very tough postseason. Now with Dusty signed, the Reds can move their interest on to other things and hopefully this quickness to get the job done will continue on during the rest of the off-season. I hope Walt Jocketty keeps the pace up and gets all the moves done as quick as he did this one.
Could Drew Stubbs be worried?
With all the trade talks with the Reds being around a speedy lead off hitter, could this be the reason behind Drew Stubbs’ solid clutch hitting lately? Or could it just be that time of the year for Stubbs to go hot? Or to be even more exact maybe it was just the hometown cooking that got him hitting great.
I am amazed that many out there have not brought this up. I am not knocking his play time now or that he is batting 1st / 2nd in the order but in the back of my mind I am still thinking the trade talks might have given him the boost he needed. Of course we all know, Drew Stubbs will never be traded away but most of the guys that the Reds have shown interest in are playing Stubbs’ position, CF.
No matter what the reason, Dusty Baker is going to ride it out and hope it lasts until Joey Votto gets back and to tell you the truth I don’t blame him. If I was the Reds front office I would keep talking to other teams about CFers and see if it gets Stubbs hitting even better.
As most of you already know, I am not a big believer in the hype about Stubbs and Bailey finally maturing but they are both doing a lot better than other seasons so I will keep my mouth shut and hope that it finally is time for them to shine.
Update:
Here is something I have found today that I think is very interesting. While most hitters get better the more times they see a pitcher in a game, Drew Stubbs is completely different.
Times Facing Opponent in Game 2012
Split AB HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS vs. SP 1st 61 2 4 10 21 .246 .352 .393 .746 vs. SP 2nd 70 2 8 2 17 .214 .236 .357 .593 vs. SP 3rd 64 1 3 4 19 .172 .221 .234 .455 vs. SP 4th+ 13 1 2 1 2 .231 .286 .462 .747 vs. RP 1st 82 4 8 11 29 .256 .351 .451 .802 vs. RP 2nd 1 0 1 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/26/2012.
If I had one wish from Walt Jocketty…
If I had one wish from Cincinnati Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty it would be to trade Drew Stubbs and Homer Bailey right now. I know lately I have really been picking on these two guys but I am getting very tired of seeing them play. Especially having Drew Stubbs batting first in the order again. Come on Dusty!
Now I know that it is not easy to just trade guys like this but right now I would even trade them for a player to be named later. I am really getting tired of waiting for them to step up and play to their potential. I hope that they both turn it around and play great for the rest of the year to shut me up but let’s be honest, that will never happen.
Reds roster and staff
Here is the 40-Man Roster for the Cincinnati Reds as of today. This of course is not counting Ryan Ludwick who is still not official yet.
Cincinnati Reds 40-Man Roster
# Pitchers B/T Ht Wt DOB
33 Jose Arredondo R-R 6'0" 175 Mar 12, 1984
61 Bronson Arroyo R-R 6'4" 195 Feb 24, 1977
34 Homer Bailey R-R 6'3" 200 May 3, 1986
Andrew Brackman R-R 6'10" 230 Dec 4, 1985
45 Bill Bray L-L 6'3" 225 Jun 5, 1983
54 Aroldis Chapman L-L 6'4" 195 Feb 28, 1988
47 Johnny Cueto R-R 5'10" 220 Feb 15, 1986
46 Carlos Fisher R-R 6'4" 225 Feb 22, 1983
Josh Judy R-R 6'4" 200 Feb 9, 1986
Mat Latos R-R 6'6" 225 Dec 9, 1987
44 Mike Leake R-R 6'1" 185 Nov 12, 1987
63 Sam LeCure R-R 6'1" 205 May 4, 1984
Kyle Lotzkar L-R 6'4" 200 Oct 24, 1989
Ryan Madson L-R 6'6" 200 Aug 28, 1980
Sean Marshall L-L 6'7" 220 Aug 30, 1982
40 Nick Masset R-R 6'4" 240 May 17, 1982
66 Logan Ondrusek R-R 6'8" 230 Feb 13, 1985
62 Jordan Smith R-R 6'4" 220 Feb 4, 1986
Pedro Villarreal R-R 6'1" 215 Dec 9, 1987
# Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB
29 Ryan Hanigan R-R 6'0" 200 Aug 16, 1980
39 Devin Mesoraco R-R 6'1" 220 Jun 19, 1988
# Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
43 Miguel Cairo R-R 6'1" 220 May 4, 1974
2 Zack Cozart R-R 6'0" 195 Aug 12, 1985
25 Juan Francisco L-R 6'2" 240 Jun 24, 1987
21 Todd Frazier R-R 6'3" 220 Feb 12, 1986
Didi Gregorius L-R 6'1" 175 Feb 18, 1990
7 Paul Janish R-R 6'2" 200 Oct 12, 1982
Donald Lutz L-R 6'3" 235 Feb 6, 1989
71 Kristopher Negron R-R 6'0" 180 Feb 1, 1986
4 Brandon Phillips R-R 6'0" 205 Jun 28, 1981
Henry Rodriguez S-R 5'10" 150 Feb 9, 1990
27 Scott Rolen R-R 6'4" 245 Apr 4, 1975
Neftali Soto R-R 6'2" 180 Feb 28, 1989
3 Chris Valaika R-R 6'0" 210 Aug 14, 1985
19 Joey Votto L-R 6'3" 220 Sep 10, 1983
# Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
32 Jay Bruce L-L 6'3" 225 Apr 3, 1987
28 Chris Heisey R-R 6'0" 225 Dec 14, 1984
Denis Phipps R-R 6'3" 210 Jul 22, 1985
6 Drew Stubbs R-R 6'4" 200 Oct 4, 1984
Cincinnati Reds Coaching Staff
Manager & Coaches
# Name Position
12 Dusty Baker Manager
49 Brook Jacoby Batting Coach
38 Bryan Price Pitching Coach
Mack Jenkins Assistant Pitching Coach
22 Billy Hatcher First Base Coach
41 Mark Berry Third Base Coach
35 Chris Speier Bench Coach
59 Juan Lopez Bullpen Coach
72 Mike Stefanski Bullpen Catcher
Staff
Name Position
Terry Reynolds Director of Pro Scouting
J Harrison Scout
Marty Maier Scout
Jeff Morris Scout
John Morris Scout
Shawn Pender Scout
Steve Roadcap Scout
Mike Squires Scout
Jeff Taylor Scout
Dominic Viola Scout
Jerry Walker Scout
Joe Morgan Baseball Operations Assistant
Paul Lessard Athletic Trainer
Mark Riggins Minor League Pitching Coordinator
Rick Sweet Coordinator, Catching
Cincinnati Reds Broadcasters
Name
Marty Brennaman
Thom Brennaman
Chris Welsh
Jeff Brantley
Jim Kelch
George Grande
Sean Casey
Kent Mercker
Mat Latos vs. National League Central
Mat Latos has not played a lot in Great American Ball Park. In his career he has only played in this hitter friendly park twice, once in 2011 and the other time in 2009. He has only given up 1 home run in 14 innings and recorded 9 strike outs. After watching a few videos of Latos pitch in 2011 for San Diego Padres I have to say I am very impressed by the kid and what he can do. His curveball is amazing and his other pitches set it up very nicely. One very big bonus to this trade is that he is a National League pitcher so there will not have to be any adjustments made through that. Although he will be playing in some hitter friendly parks more now instead of the nice pitcher parks he might be used to, I have read that he did just as good on the road as he did at home. I can’t wait to see what he can do in GABP in the future.
Mat Latos in Great American Ball Park
Rk Date Tm Opp Rslt AppDec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str BF AB 1 2011-08-12 SDP CIN L 3-5 GS-7 7.0 4 2 2 1 5 0 111 71 26 24 2 2009-07-29 SDP CIN W 7-1 GS-7 W 7.0 1 1 1 1 4 1 86 57 23 21
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/18/2011.
Friday, August 12, 2011, at Great American Ball Park [play by play and box score]
Wednesday, July 29, 2009, Great American Ball Park [play by play and box score]
I have included stats of Mat Latos career against National League Central teams so then we can see what teams he has done well against. The Brewers and Cardinals gave him some rough times in his career so far so hopefully with the Reds this will turn around and he will be able to pitch well against them.
W L ERA GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP SO/9 SO/BB
Chicago Cubs 2 2 3.47 4 23.1 21 11 9 1 8 30 1.243 11.6 3.75
Cincinnati Reds 1 1 2.70 3 20.0 9 6 6 3 4 16 0.650 7.2 4.00
Houston Astros 3 1 2.30 4 27.1 16 7 7 1 4 25 0.732 8.2 6.25
Milwaukee Brewers 0 2 4.63 2 11.2 13 6 6 3 5 8 1.543 6.2 1.60
Pittsburgh Pirates 2 0 2.84 3 19.0 16 6 6 2 5 19 1.105 9.0 3.80
St. Louis Cardinals 1 2 10.80 3 13.1 23 16 16 1 5 9 2.100 6.1 1.80
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/18/2011.
Here are his career stats against the St. Louis Cardinals players.
AB H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Rafael Furcal 14 5 0 2 1 4 .357 .400 .357 .757
Ryan Theriot 11 2 0 0 1 2 .182 .250 .182 .432
Lance Berkman 9 2 0 1 0 3 .222 .222 .222 .444
Albert Pujols 6 2 0 2 2 0 .333 .500 .500 1.000
Yadier Molina 7 3 0 3 0 2 .429 .429 .571 1.000
Jon Jay 5 3 0 0 1 0 .600 .667 .800 1.467
Matt Holliday 5 2 0 4 0 0 .400 .400 .400 .800
Skip Schumaker 4 2 0 0 1 0 .500 .600 .750 1.350
Chris Carpenter 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Allen Craig 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Daniel Descalso 3 1 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .667 1.000
Kyle Lohse 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Total 70 22 0 12 6 13 .314 .368 .386 .754
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/18/2011.
And here are his career stats against Milwaukee Brewers players.
AB H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Nyjer Morgan 7 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Ryan Braun 4 0 0 0 2 0 .000 .333 .000 .333
Prince Fielder 6 1 0 0 0 1 .167 .167 .167 .333
Corey Hart 5 1 0 0 1 1 .200 .333 .400 .733
Casey McGehee 4 1 0 0 2 0 .250 .500 .250 .750
Rickie Weeks 6 4 2 3 0 0 .667 .667 1.667 2.333
Yuniesky Betancourt 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Craig Counsell 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Yovani Gallardo 3 1 1 1 0 1 .333 .333 1.333 1.667
Carlos Gomez 3 1 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 1.000 1.333
Jerry Hairston 3 1 1 1 0 0 .333 .333 1.333 1.667
Jonathan Lucroy 3 2 0 1 0 0 .667 .667 1.000 1.667
Zack Greinke 2 1 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 .500 1.000
Josh Wilson 2 1 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000
Randy Wolf 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000
Total 56 14 4 6 5 9 .250 .311 .536 .847
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/18/2011.
Here are the stats of Mat Latos career in National League Central ball parks. I am hoping Bronson Arroyo and the other Reds pitchers will help Latos out with how to pitch well in these parks in 2012, especially in Busch Stadium and Miller Park or Dusty Baker will just have to be very careful of when he plays him when they play in those parks. In 58.4 innings (10 GS) he gave up 6 home runs in these parks while getting 54 strike outs.
Split W L ERA GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP SO/9 SO/BB
CHC-Wrigley Fld 1 0 2.57 1 7.0 5 2 2 0 1 10 0.857 12.9 10.00
CIN-GreatAmer BP 1 0 1.93 2 14.0 5 3 3 1 2 9 0.500 5.8 4.50
HOU-MinuteMaidPk 1 1 3.14 2 14.1 6 5 5 1 2 15 0.558 9.4 7.50
MIL-Miller Pk 0 1 6.35 1 5.2 7 4 4 1 2 4 1.588 6.4 2.00
PIT-PNC Pk 2 0 2.77 2 13.0 11 4 4 2 3 14 1.077 9.7 4.67
STL-Busch Stad 0 2 25.31 2 5.1 17 15 15 1 5 2 4.125 3.4 0.40
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/18/2011.
Boring but smart
I have been reading a lot of blogs lately and one theme I am seeing a lot with Reds fans is that people are not happy with the lack of movement this offseason. Walt Jocketty once again is saying he is trying but nothing is happening. It does not surprise me that nothing has been done yet and to tell you the truth I am happy that nothing has been done. It means Walt is not going to give up our prospects for players he feels don’t deserve it. Many of us can point fingers freely and say it is all Walt’s fault or it is all Dusty’s fault but we do not realize that the other teams might be trying to get way too much for a player that really does not deserve it. I would not want to see the Reds trade away Yonder Alonso and one of their catching prospects for someone like Huston Street. I would probably crawl into a snow bank and not come out until it melted.
How about four of the Reds top prospects for Jair Jurrjens? Are you off your meds? I am glad none of these rumors came true, it shows that the front office will not trade away the future for someone who might not even help us for one season. If they want to win this year they will have to make a move but we really need to determine as fans what we want. Do we want them to win one Championship or many of them? I for one would love to see them in the playoffs for many seasons so keeping our young prospects is a very good idea. I don’t think trading three or four of them away in one trade is really a smart move right now. I don’t care if Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez type pitchers are up for trades, I would rather keep our prospects. What if Yonder Alonso does awesome in left field in 2012 and becomes rookie of the year? What if one of the Reds young pitchers goes on to become one of the best closers in baseball because the Reds took a chance and let him play that role? And what if Yasmani Grandal goes on to become another Johnny Bench for the Reds? Do you really want to trade these guys away for one player who will get killed in Great American Ball Park? Don’t get me wrong, if Walt can get one of those types of pitchers for one prospect and other players to be named later than I say go for it, but I really don’t think they could ever get a top of the rotation Ace without giving up most of the farm system.
Being an armchair GM for many years now I must say I am very pleased with how Walt Jocketty is handling this team. I get frustrated sometimes and wish he would make a move but I do understand that holding our players at a certain value and not just sending them away for a player to be named later is not an easy task. Many factors come into play that a lot of us might not understand. We also have to remember that the Reds are not to big into the whole Money Ball idea right now as far as I have read and Walt is going off of what his scouts and staff say. And I really am getting used to not seeing the Reds do much during the offseason. Another great thing about this offseason is that teams in the National League Central are losing their top players while the Reds just sit and watch. They might also be waiting to see where Prince Fielder goes before making any moves at all especially now that the Machine Albert Pujols is gone to the Angels.
If the team finishes below .500 again in 2012 I don’t think fans will have to wait much longer for something to happen. I think Walt and Dusty will be on the ropes and as fans begin to find other things to spend their money on the owners will step in and tell Walt and Dusty to move on. The Reds would then have to hire a whole new front office and that might have Reds fans wishing Walt and Dusty were back.
2r2d
