COL VS CIN 5-25-12 PREVIEW

YOUR FIRST PLACE CINCINNATI REDS!!!!

Just got off a 10 hour shift and I am exhausted can barley keep my eyes open but just had to get on here and say GO REDS we finally caught up and passed those St. Louis bastards. First Place!!!! 4 Game sweep of ATL and Devin Mesoraco first Carrer GLAND SLAMI!!!! Will hopefully have time tomorrow to post more on this. Until then lets just enjoy this one!!!!

REDS ALERT 5-24-12: Free Game of the Day – Braves vs. Reds at 7 pm ET.

Watch today’s @MLBTV Free Game of the Day – Braves vs. Reds – presented by Corona at 7 pm ET.

ATL VS CIN 5-24-12 PREVIEW

Everybody do the T-Fraz!!!!!

Before Hitting 2 HR against the Mets on Wednesday (May 16th) Todd Frazier gets down with his bad self! Hey don’t judge if it helps him relax and hit homers I say keep dancing Todd, Come on evrybody do the T-Fraz!!!!!

Video Courtesy of Brandon Phillips Twitvid: http://www.twitvid.com/DatDudeBP

REDS DOWN ON THE FARM: QUICK STAT CHECK 5-13-12

LETS TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT THE STATS OF SOME OF THE REDS TOP PROSPECTS:(CLICK TO MAKE BIGGER)

REDS ALERT 5-12-12: ROLEN TO 15 DAY DL Mike Costanzo called up

Rolen to 15-day DL with strained left shoulder. 3B Mike Costanzo called up from AAA Louisville Rolen on he injury: “I didn’t want to talk about the pink elephant in the room, and here we’re kind of talking about it”….”I’m hurting, I’m in pain. I’m not healthy right now. As much as I want to help the team, I’m hurting the team”

CLOSER LOOK AT MIKE COSTANZO:

Full Name: Michael A. Costanzo
Born: 09/09/1983
Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA
College: Coastal Carolina
Height: 6′ 3″
Weight: 215
Bats: L
Throws: R


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Draft notes on Costanzo: drafted by the Phillies in the second round in 2005 was one pick ahead of Chase Headley and five picks after Travis Wood.

Murderous Mid-May Stretch of Games = Real Test for 2012 REDS

Starting with Tomorrows Game against the Nationals (May 11th) the Reds will have stretch of 14 games against premier opponents all of which are playing above .500 ball. First up is a 3 game weekend series against the Nationals (19-12) who also most swept the Reds in a four game series in April. Then the Reds start a 7 game road trip that will see a 2 game series against the Braves (19-13), 2 game Series against the Mets (18-13) and a 3 Game series against the Yankees (17-14). The Road will be no easier when the Reds return home and face the Braves again in a 4 game series. This will prove to be a true test for the REDS who will need to continue to receive the quality starts and outstanding bullpen work from their pitching with the bigger test will be with often struggling offense. Facing these opponents the Reds bats will have to come alive fast as it will be necessary to jump out to early leads as often as possible. When faced with pitch duels the Reds will have to be smart and grind the at bats against good pitching. By the end of this stretch of games the measurement of just how good or not so good the Reds are will become clear as there will be very little room for error and every at bat and pitch will count. This will prove if the Reds are what they seem to be on paper. Let the test begin and let the question be answered are the Reds Great, Good or Average? Remember Great teams rise to the occasion to meet the challenge and find ways to win these Games and series.

Stock Market Money Men…

Wanna bring in a winner, then Buy Buy BUY… The Reds are still within striking distance of the Cardinals who seem to have the Miter’s touch turning anything and everyone they get to gold (see Carlos Beltran’s return to form).. The Reds need a bit more of the same so this reporter says ‘BUY’. Stock Market could be getting a flux of stars this June especially if teams continue to fail ala the Phillidelphia Phillies (who appear to be sellers)..

Hamels is 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his 6 starts for the Phillies this year.

 Word hit the streets today that the Phils could be looking to shop Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino who are set to hit the open market after the 2012 season. The Phillies are currently dead last in their division and continuing to struggle without the bats of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in their lineup. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Reds make a trade for Cole Hamels.. He could be the piece that gives the Reds that 1-2 punch they need during a playoff push.. Hamels is 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA and has gotten consistently better with age. Not sure who the Reds would have to give up but I think Hamels would make a fine addition to this 2012 Cincinnati Reds Team.

Reds vs Brewers (battle of the average joes)

When looking ahead to this series before the season started, many would’ve predicted that both teams would be battling it out with the Deadbirds for 1st place in the NL Central. Instead it seems we have the battle of the average joes.

Brewers (12-16) host the Reds (14-13)

The Reds all be it are in 2nd place less than a handful of games behind the Whiny Pigeons from St.Louis, but still barely above .500 and the Brew Crew are sitting 4 games under .500. A great deal of this is attributed to lack of run production where the Reds are 21st in Runs scored at 105 and the Brewers are 16th at 113. The question I know you are asking is ‘How in the world could the Reds rank so low in runs and still have a winning record’? Well my friends that has to do with the ERA category where the Reds rank 5th at 3.25! Our pitching staff is keeping us in the ballgames.. If only the offense could just start scoring the kind of runs we know they can, the Reds could put together the type of run for the ages.. Tune in tonight when the Average Joes Series starts, and hopefully by the end the Reds look more like Superstars again and not these 22nd ranked batting average joes (.238) we’ve been seeing lately..

Finally it all Comes together: REDS WIN LIKE THEY SHOULD

Tonight the Reds played like we all knew they could. They dominated the Pirates in offense as well as pitching. First let us talk about pitching and another outstanding performance by the Reds ace Johnny Cueto who pitched a 1 run complete game with 4 strike outs, 0 walks with 7 hits allowed. Cueto was straight out dealing out of the 110 pitches he threw 75 of them he threw for strikes (68%). Pittsburgh only run came off a Sacrifice fly that scored a runner from 3rd. Even the Cowboy (Jeff Brantley) joked its kind of funny seeing a run cross the plate on Cueto as we are so use to none ever happening. Cueto now improves to 4-0 with an amazing 1.31 ERA for the season. If the pitching wasn’t the only thing lights out for once the Reds offense matched the Pitching. With back to Back Homers by Cozart and Stubbs to another solos shot from Jay Bruce (who has now extended his hitting streak to 7 games). There were also key two out hits early on by the Reds which capitalized with 3 RBIs off of them. I wasn’t able to watch the game but I listen to Marty and the Cowboy call the game and according to the Cowboy the Reds hitting just seemed relaxed at the plate for a change and not struggling at the plate as in the past. This speaks volumes I think of the confidence that the Reds players have in Cueto. It’s as if they are saying our ace is out there and he is zoned in so lets go out there and just hit the ball because we have nothing to loose with Johnny on the mound. This was a great win for the Reds and a win that we as fans have been looking for. In short tonight the Reds finally played up to their Potential. Now lets hope we can carry this over and help Mike Leake who has been the weakest link so far in the rotation a month into the season tomorrow with a 6+ ERA. Time to rally REDs and Reds fans I believe we may have finally cracked that glass ceiling and produce that long winning streak we have been so desperately needing.

Click here to see high lights of Cueto’s Complete Game

REDS ALERT 5-4-12: REDS VS PIRATES MLBTV FREE GAME OF THE DAY!!!

click here to watch it

REDS VS Pirates 5-4-12 Preview

REDS Line up:

Zack Cozart 6
Drew Stubbs 8
Joey Votto 3
Brandon Phillips 4
Jay Bruce 9
Scott Rolen 5
Chris Heisey 7
Ryan Hanigan 2
Johnny Cueto 1

Pirates Line up:

Jose Tabata 9
Alex Presley 7
Nate McLouth 8
Neil Walker 4
Pedro Alvarez 5
Garrett Jones 3
Clint Barmes 6
Rod Barajas 2
Kevin Correia 1

Quick REDS odd Notes and thoughts 5-4-12

Failing: Willie Harris has 3 hits in 34 at bats

Behind the plate: REDS are 10-4 with Hannigan and 2-8 with Mesoraco behind the plate

Stubbs not as much K Stubbs?: stubbs strike outs are 15% lower than last year and lower strike outs than most Reds and lower than League average

Quick thought of the moment: Is it just me or is there a lack of a sense of urgency on the Reds team it is now May and the excuse it’s Early no longer applies do they not realize that if you are good early the rest of the season winning the division is much easier. In May 2010 the REDS went winning streak that carried them into the playoffs lets hope they can start one here and now with the 1 game winning streak behind them.

VIDEO Of Billy Hamilton REDS FUTURE GAME 3.49 SECONDS!!!

Video provided by http://redsminorleagues.com

UGLY but a WIN is a WIN and a Key one at that

It was an Ugly Win partially gift wrapped the horrific pitching Carlos Marmol but a key win none the less for the struggling Reds. What difference a day makes after Marmol shut down and closed the door on the Reds Wednesday the Reds decided to stand at the plat and do what Marmol does best and beat himself. Loading the bases with a combination of walks and hits and an infield error the Reds scored 2 runs of Marmol and he walked a run home for the Reds as well. With the win Thursday over the Cubs the Reds gained a game on the Cardinals who lost to the Pirates on Thursday 6 to 3. The Reds are now back to within striking distances of St. Louis at 3.5 games back and also helped pull away from Milwaukee. In Fact the Brewers Pirates and even the lowly Astros are all tied for 3rd place at (11-14) 5 Games out of first place. So with a split in rain shortened series with the Cubs the Reds now go to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates for a 3 Game weekend series. The Reds who with the exception of Joey Votto are struggling offensively will face a Pirate team that is similarly offensive lacking production but is riding high off outstanding pitching of late. Let’s hope the Reds can find a way to get the bats going and beat the Pirates a team like the Cubs they should beat and God willing Sweep out of town.