Yup, that slipped through.
And you’re missing my point - that if you look at these numbers in the context of a 162 game season, that happens to EVERYONE. Picking at a couple bad offensive outings and making a general statement about them is the very definition of confirmation bias. Teams lose 2-1, 2-0, 1-0 all the time. GOOD teams lose like that all the time.
Fair enough.
Ahem. That’s a 13-game win streak, sir.
I realize that all baseball teams lose games like that, but I’m not used to the Reds going down like that so often and all clustered together within one month, particularly when I thought their offense would at least be the same as last season and they’ve fallen off quite a bit. Guys like Todd Frazier, a potential ROY candidate last season, have fallen off the face of the Earth.
Another factor I thought of is my anxiety over the division race. All three teams were within a couple games of each other not long ago and as the Cards and now the Pirates keep winning, the Reds are starting to fall further behind. Last I checked they were like six and a half out. I’d like that number to get smaller, not larger!
It’s interesting because what you’re talking about is actually pretty typical for good (and even great) teams. They lose close games and win blowouts. They rarely lose blowouts. So while it obviously hurts more to lose 3-2 or 1-0, it’s actually a good sign.
Ideally, if I’m remembering correctly, a playoff-caliber team will be something around .550 in close games and over .650 in blowouts.
As for the standings, I share your concern and keep waiting for a nice Buccos losing streak. No luck so far.
You are correct sir. Typo on my behalf. :smack:
I hear the hardware stores near Turner Field are having a hard time keeping brooms in stock. 
I just can’t remember the last time the Reds starting rotation was this good from top to bottom overall. Hate to have them have the kind of year they had last season and also this season, and not get some playoff wins out of it.
And I still have no clue when our supposed ace Johnny Cueto will be back!
Votto’s never been a huge home run hitter. He averaged 29 home runs a year from 2008-2011 (a number skewed by his 37-home run year in 2011; he’s never hit more than 30 any other year). Since he’s on track to hit 24 home runs this year, it’s not much of a fall-off.
His RBI totals are more noticeably down, but I’m not sure that’s entirely his fault.
Depends on what “fault” means. Really it’s part bizarre luck and part the kind of hitter he is, but it’s not that he hasn’t had men on base, terrible #2 hitter or no. Shin-Soo Choo gets on base like nobody’s business. And Votto’s had 229 PA to date with men on base, and 132 with RISP. Miguel Cabrera, for instance, has had 230 and 145.
His numbers aren’t even bad with runners on; he just doesn’t hit homers. Cabrera has 22 bombs with men on. Votto has 5.
In those 229 PAs with men on base, he has 48 walks. From comments I have seen apparently several broadcasters are suggesting he should expand the zone and swing at more pitches with runners on. I disagree. Ted Williams walked at a similar rate with men on (though he did exhibit more power also).
I think a lot of Cincinnati fans don’t really appreciate how elite Votto is right now. He will probably lead the league in OBP for the fourth year in a row. The only others to do that are Barry Bonds, Wade Boggs, Ted Williams, and Rogers Hornsby.
I think part of the problem is that this year he is actually underperforming his own baseline in high-leverage situations. I believe that it is just random variation since he has been extremely good in those situations in the past, but those are the moments that fans really notice. But he is really just doing poorly in those situations with respect to himself. He is still outperforming the league in general by a wide margin.
The point I made previously about Votto was with respect to his fantasy stats. You get 6 pts for a homer and 2 pts for a double, with nobody on base.
A player I would compare him to, offensively speaking, is Andrew McCutchen. Both bat 3rd, are the best hitter on their team, and have somewhat similar stats that are down from their peak years. Incidentally, Cutch has 435 fantasy points and Votto has 434.
What really matters is what these two guys do the rest of the way. Both these guys’ teams are obviously in contention, and barring a total collapse by the Pirates and a mediocre performance by the Reds, we should see both teams in the playoffs.
Cutch only pinch hit today due to minor injury as the Pirates won in the 10th on a walk-off hit by Martin to drive in Harrison. 4 up on the Cards and 7 1/2 on the Reds.
y
I have stayed away from this thread, for the fear of jinxing the Bucs, but the win today has be thinking I should at least acknowledge a few things.
Today’s game was a great comeback. Down 4 to 0, they chipped away, taking it to extra innings tied at 4, until Russell Martin hit a game winning single down the left field line. 5 games in a row for the Pirates, who have reached the 70 win mark the fastest since (wait for it) 1972!
1972 for those of you that don’t know, was the year following their WS win against Baltimore, and they had a team on the road to repeating… Except they lost a heartbreaking playoff series to what was to become the Big Red Machine. Roberto Clemente died that off-season. It was a bad ending to a great regular season.
Anyway, even with the streaks by the Tigers and Braves, the Pirates… Yes, that’s right, the Pirates! Still have the best record in baseball. I don’t know if they will hang onto that for the rest of the season, but it is great to see where they are tonight, 4 games up on the Cardinals, and I believe 7 up on the Reds. Barring an epic collapse that would rival the biggest ever, the Pirates not only break the losing seasons streak, but they actually make the post season. The first time since 1992. I know, because I was there.
So, permit me a bit of baseball happiness tonight. I will keep my expectations low, as winning 82 games was the goal going into this year. But when you are 70-44, 26 games over .500, it is hard not to dream just a little bit.
Dare I say it? “Let’s Go Bucs!!!”
Tonight Kenley Jansen retired his 27th straight batter for a perfect game of sorts. Of the 27 he k’d 15. He is really an amazing pitcher.
That is one amazing stat line.
15 K’s 27 in a row. Wow.
Wait. I just realized he is a closer. So his stat line, although impressive, is a lot less so when he’s only throwing one inning at a time.
Still, its nice to know you have a hammer like that in the bullpen.
If I knew the dodgers better, I would have recognized that name as being a reliever. But I don’t so I didn’t. Oh well.
Let’s go Bucs!
Well, you know, the Cards just lost their last series, thanks to, you know, the Dodgers. You’re welcome. Go Blue!
I’m pulling for them. Enjoy the ride. It reminds me a little of being an Indians fan in 95 and how hard it was just to let go and have fun. So, let go and have fun!
That’s what I need to do too. I’m having way too much anxiety over the Reds. If they don’t make it, they don’t make it. It just sucks when you invest that much time, energy and emotion into something over the course of such a long season only to have it not turn out like you’d hoped.
I was never a huge baseball guy until I moved to the Cincinnati area in the early 1990’s, but the Reds (and Bengals) both already sucked and both franchises sucked for a really long time…which actually makes the games more fun in a way because there’s zero expectations and when they win it’s like Christmas. I was always a HUGE NFL fan (and still am) and the Reds were just kind of a way to mark time until the next NFL season began.
Now that I’ve spent more time over the years appreciating baseball for what it is and investing time and money and energy into going to games and trying to watch or listen to all of them, AND now that the Reds no longer suck, the bar has been raised and expectations are high, all of which conspire to raise my blood pressure when they let you down.
I need to remember it’s just a game. I’m starting to treat baseball like I do football: a serious addiction with grave emotional consequences!
I know exactly what you mean. I was a wreck in '95. It got better after that. But honestly, I don’t want to be blase about it, because where’s the fun in that?
I have gotten slightly (and I do mean slightly) better about the degree to which I let a Dodger win or loss impact my mood for the rest of the day. Some of that is attributable to having become an Indians fan, too. So some days, at least I get a split of my teams. On the days when they both lose…well, let’s just say those are dark times.
Baseball is not a matter of life or death. It’s more important than that.
That goes double for playoff baseball.