Results tagged ‘ Houston Astros ’
My 2012 National League Central Standings
I have seen a lot of 2012 National League Central predictions and thought I would share my predictions. Many experts still think St. Louis Cardinals will be the top team, but if you look at my predictions I won’t show them any love at all, because I really think their losses out weigh their gains this offseason. Plus, they did not finish first last season with what they had so it is not easy for me to understand how people expect them to get first in 2012. I do think the Pirates will have a good season though and they could be a tough team to beat again for the Reds this season.
Now, of course these are just my early thoughts on what the standings will look like and I have been wrong many years. I do have a feeling though that the Cardinals and Brewers are going to have a tough time repeating what they did in 2011. Not just because of Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols but because of everything that has happened this offseason.
My 2012 National League Central Prediction:
1. Cincinnati Reds
2. Pittsburgh Pirates
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Chicago Cubs
6. Houston Astros
Great offseason for Cincinnati Reds
Kerry Wood might be leaving Chicago Cubs to sign with Philadelphia Phillies. If this happens it will go down as another move this offseason that will help the Cincinnati Reds in 2012 which they did not have to make. [Source]
Kerry Wood has a career 14-6 record against the Reds with a 2.85 ERA. With 201 strike outs while only giving up 59 walks in 161.1 IP and 47 games. He has a 4-3 record at Great American Ball Park and a 4.05 ERA with 66 strike outs and 17 walks along with only allowing 7 home runs in 53.1 innings pitched. (17 games)
If Kerry Wood does leave the Cubs this will be another move that has pushed the Reds closer to first place in the National League Central without them making any other moves. The Reds did get Sean Marshall and Mat Latos in trades earlier this offseason and are waiting to find out if they will re-sign closer Francisco Cordero but other than that they have not had to really do much more.
This has been one very interesting offseason for Reds fans. First we saw Albert Pujols along with manager Tony LaRussa leave St. Louis Cardinals. Prince Fielder is not expected to return to Milwaukee Brewers and Ryan Braun is expected to get a 50 game suspension due to testing positive for PEDs. The Chicago Cubs are cleaning house and are dealing away most of their high salary players like Carlos Zambrano and there are still rumors that Matt Garza might be next. Houston Astros are in a rebuilding year and are getting ready to move to the American League. Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds are the only teams in National League Central that have not been losing lots of their key players this offseason.
2r2d Podcast: Episode 1 (01.03.12)
I wanted to try out a podcast to start off 2012. I am not sure if I will do a lot of podcasts but if feedback is good it might become a welcome addition to the blog. This first episode is about what I have posted on 2r2d blog. Mat Latos, Sean Marshall and Josh Judy are talked about in this episode.
Ryan Madson and Cincinnati Reds
Some people think Ryan Madson is an option for the Cincinnati Reds. I am one of those fans that really hope Walt Jocketty and the Reds front office either re-sign Francisco Cordero or go with in-house options. Ryan Madson is rumored to be looking for a one year deal and there are only two teams that really are good suitors for him right now. The Reds and Los Angeles Angels. [Source]
In 8 games (8 IP) Madson has given up 4 home runs in Great American Ball Park. I really don’t think he is the kind of closer the Reds need right now. Even if it is for only one year this deal just does not work for the Reds. Cordero at 2 years would make a lot more sense for the team since they already know he is durable and can pitch well in GABP.
There is no doubt that Ryan Madson is a great pitcher and with some of the National League Central teams he has a great ERA, but as we all know judging relief pitchers off of ERA is not always the best way to do it. I was more interested in how many home runs he gave up. I really hope Madson is not a real option that the Reds are looking into and I wish a reporter close to the Reds would finally ask Walt Jocketty about it so then we could crush this rumor before it gets worse. If Cordero does not re-sign I really think they will go with in-house guys like Walt said. Now don’t get me wrong, having Madson on the team would be nice but maybe as setup man with Sean Marshall for closer Cordero. But, I really doubt the Reds would have money for that because Madson’s agent is Scott Boras and we all know Boras loves to get big bucks for his guys. With that said, I think the Reds would save money by re-signing Cordero for 2 or 3 years.
Career numbers for Ryan Madson at Great American Ball Park.
Split W L ERA G IP H ER HR WHIP
CIN-GreatAmer BP 1 1 7.88 8 8.0 10 7 4 1.500
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/30/2011.
Career numbers for Ryan Madson in National League Central Ball Parks.
Split W L ERA G SV IP H ER HR SO WHIP
CHC-Wrigley Fld 0 1 5.68 9 1 6.1 7 4 2 7 1.421
CIN-GreatAmer BP 1 1 7.88 8 3 8.0 10 7 4 8 1.500
HOU-MinuteMaidPk 0 1 4.15 9 0 8.2 12 4 1 8 1.615
MIL-Miller Pk 0 1 1.42 8 3 6.1 7 1 0 5 1.579
PIT-PNC Pk 1 1 4.50 6 0 8.0 9 4 2 6 1.250
STL-Busch Stad 3 0 0 1.93 11 0 14.0 8 3 2 10 0.929
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/30/2011.
Career numbers for Ryan Madson vs. National League Central teams.
Split W L ERA G SV IP H ER HR WHIP
Chicago Cubs 1 1 5.51 20 2 16.1 20 10 4 1.531
Cincinnati Reds 4 4 6.99 24 3 28.1 33 22 7 1.412
Houston Astros 0 3 4.15 21 1 21.2 25 10 2 1.292
Milwaukee Brewers 3 1 1.74 18 4 20.2 19 4 1 1.258
Pittsburgh Pirates 2 1 2.08 14 2 17.1 15 4 2 0.923
St. Louis Cardinals 1 1 1.72 22 0 31.1 19 6 2 0.830
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/30/2011.
Cincinnati Reds vs. National League Central teams in 2011
In 2011, the toughest Division rival Cincinnati Reds faced was Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates destroyed the Reds in Great American Ball Park last season, winning 5 games and losing just 1 against the hometown Reds. The Pirates also won 5 of their home games, while losing 4 to the visiting Reds. Giving the Pirates a 10-5 Record against Cincinnati in 2011.
Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011
Date RS RA Win Loss Save 2011-04-15 L 1 6 C.Morton B.Arroyo 2011-04-16 W 11 2 M.Leake J.McDonald 2011-04-17 L 6 7 C.Resop L.Ondrusek J.Hanrahan 2011-04-18 L 3 9 K.Correia T.Wood 2011-05-18 L 0 5 C.Morton B.Arroyo 2011-05-19 L 3 5 J.McDonald J.Cueto J.Hanrahan 2011-07-18 L 0 2 C.Morton D.Willis J.Hanrahan 2011-07-19 L 0 1 J.McDonald M.Leake J.Hanrahan 2011-07-20 W 3 1 J.Cueto J.Karstens F.Cordero 2011-08-19 W 11 8 T.Wood J.Hanrahan F.Cordero 2011-08-20 L 3 5 T.Watson A.Chapman J.Hanrahan 2011-08-21 W 5 4 J.Arredondo J.Hanrahan F.Cordero 2011-09-23 L 3 4 J.Hanrahan B.Bray 2011-09-24 L 3 4 B.Lincoln T.Wood J.Grilli 2011-09-25 W 5 4 D.Willis D.Moskos F.Cordero For 2011 CIN won 5 PIT won 10.
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/23/2011.
Cincinnati did very well against the other teams in their division even though they finished under .500 in the season. If the Reds can have another season like this against the other teams in their division it will be a very nice 2012!
Cincinnati Reds vs. National League Central teams in 2011
Team G W L RS RA hmW-L rdW-L
Pittsburgh Pirates 15 5 10 57 67 1-5 4-5
Milwaukee Brewers 16 8 8 81 83 5-4 3-4
St. Louis Cardinals 15 9 6 67 68 5-1 4-5
Houston Astros 15 9 6 77 50 6-3 3-3
Chicago Cubs 18 11 7 90 79 7-2 4-5
Stats are from baseball-reference.com using the head-to-head record tool.
Sean Marshall vs. Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds fans are still waiting to find out who the minor league players are in the Sean Marshall trade today. While we wait I thought I would look into something I read from a fan’s comments earlier today. The fan said that this trade will help the Reds out more then they think because the Reds players had a very tough time against Sean Marshall when he was playing for Chicago Cubs. After looking at the stats I have to agree. Marshall has been said to be one of the best relief pitchers in Major League Baseball right now. Having a setup man like this on the team will really help out with signing or trading for a new closer.
Sean Marshall vs. Cincinnati Reds
AB H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Joey Votto 13 3 1 2 4 4 .231 .412 .538 .950
Edgar Renteria 12 3 0 0 3 4 .250 .400 .250 .650
Brandon Phillips 12 1 1 2 2 2 .083 .214 .333 .548
Jay Bruce 11 2 0 0 1 6 .182 .308 .182 .490
Scott Rolen 8 3 1 2 1 1 .375 .444 .750 1.194
Drew Stubbs 5 0 0 1 1 3 .000 .167 .000 .167
Ramon Hernandez 5 3 0 0 0 1 .600 .600 .600 1.200
Paul Janish 3 1 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667
Ryan Hanigan 2 1 0 1 2 0 .500 .750 .500 1.250
Miguel Cairo 2 1 0 1 1 1 .500 .667 .500 1.167
Chris Heisey 2 1 0 0 1 1 .500 .667 .500 1.167
Todd Frazier 2 2 0 1 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.500 2.500
Dontrelle Willis 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Yonder Alonso 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Juan Francisco 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Devin Mesoraco 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Edinson Volquez 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Dave Sappelt 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 83 21 3 10 16 26 .253 .380 .386 .766
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/21/2011.
Sean Marshall career vs. National League Central teams.
Split W L ERA G IP H HR SO WHIP SO/9 SO/BB
Cincinnati Reds 1 3 2.61 23 31.0 26 2 30 1.387 8.7 1.76
Houston Astros 2 5 2.70 27 46.2 44 5 36 1.307 6.9 2.12
Milwaukee Brewers 2 2 4.13 27 32.2 35 2 29 1.531 8.0 1.93
Pittsburgh Pirates 5 2 3.27 26 41.1 31 2 33 1.113 7.2 2.20
St. Louis Cardinals 3 3 2.71 31 63.0 63 7 45 1.302 6.4 2.37
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/21/2011.
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.
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