Quick Thoughts on the 3/5 ST Game

Another day, another game against the Indians:

**Johnny Cueto looked good. Quick, efficient, fastball heavy appearance.

**Jay Bruce beat the shift with a groundball single through what is normally the shortstop position.

**Trevor Bauer pitched for the Indians. He's one of my favorite MLB pitchers and I believe he's in line for a very good year.

**Donald Lutz played 1b and made a couple of nice scoops. He looks comfortable over there. Lutz is still behind the development curve due to coming late to baseball. Still, he still strikes me as a player who could produce positive value at the MLB level if he can catch up in the development department. He has some athleticism and a nice swing, just needs improvement pitch recognition and plate discipline. Unfortunately, time is against him.

**Jim Day interviewed Billy Hamilton and then did an imitation of his voice, which didn't seem...appropriate. Hamilton continues to impress me. He spent the offseason working out with Delino DeShields and added muscle to his frame. He should be improved this year, maybe by quite a bit. During the first part of the interview, Todd Frazier, wearing sunglasses, was lurking directly behind Hamilton. Frazier looked like a Secret Service agent for Hamilton or maybe just a guy who lacks an appreciation for personal space. The camera cut away to game action and when it cut back to the interview, Frazier was gone. I would guess that it was a bit that never came off, but as it was it seemed a bit strange. Or, maybe Tyler Durden sliced a single frame of Todd Frazier into the telecast.

**Aroldis was Aroldis....you know what that means.

**I got my first look at Aristides Aquino. I now get the hype. He just looks like an explosive/electric type talent in the batter's box. There's a long development road ahead of him and lots of possible wrong turns on that journey, but he could be an impact talent.

**Burke Badenhop was awful. Fortunately, it doesn't count.

**Jimmy Pickens made a very weak throw from leftfield. The throwing motion was just as weak.

**I like Bradley Zimmer for the Tribe. I can see why he was a first round pick.

**Michael Lorenzen was dealing. Heavy fastball. Nasty curveball. Brilliant behind the back defensive play to showcase his athleticism. Granted, he was facing minor leaguers, but when he's rolling it seems like gravity, destiny, or some other force is on his side. Still, it's somewhat surprising that his repertoire doesn't generate more strikeouts. Thom and Chris were talking about Lorenzen pitching in the majors this year, but I wouldn't mind letting him work a full season in the minors. It still feels like there are a few small adjustments to be made if he's going to be a starter at the MLB level.

**It seems odd that a functional southpaw like Jose Mijares bounces around the league as much as he does. There have been some rumblings about character questions, but he might prove to be a valuable member of the Reds bullpen in 2015.

Quick Thoughts on the 3/4 ST Game

A few quick thoughts on Wednesday's game against the Indians:

**Thom is already annoying me. I understand announcers can't know all the young talent in these games, but do a bit of homework on the more obvious ones. Also, avoid the jarring overstatements. Kevin Gregg has had a "great" career? Really?

**On the other hand, nice bit of insight from Brantley about the seams on the baseball, including how the college game is intentionally lowering the seams to increase offense and how MLB's baseball already has reduced seams.

**DeSclafani looked solid, but I'm still not seeing anything electric in his repertoire.

**Holmberg was Holmberg. He's always going to flirt with trouble due to high contact rates. So, it's tough to get a read on how he actually performed when the hitters he faced were less likely to produce damaging contact. Still, an encouraging first step.

**Billy Hamilton drove two balls solidly and dropped down a fairly decent bunt. He talked about wanting to hit the ball on the ground more and how he lowered his hand position to accomplish that, but he drove both of those balls well.

**Devin Mesoraco wants to catch "9 out of 10" games, which works out to 145 games behind the dish. That's a helluva of a workload, Yadier-esq.

**I still don't get Brandon Phillips' personality, but, whatever, he evidently lost 15 lbs this offseason. Finally, deciding that his declining offense and footspeed were problematic.

**Brayan Pena talked about the Latos' recent comments, providing more evidence that the team is unifying to fend off an external threat.

**I still like Tucker Barnhart behind the dish, very strong receiving skills. Chad Wallach looked solid back there, but at times his footwork looked shaky and once or twice he seemed to struggle, as a taller catcher, getting low enough. There weren't any basestealers, but I'd like to get a live look at Wallach's catch-and-throw ability.

**Neftali Soto is such a disappointment. There's really no compelling reason for him to be in the organization any longer.

**Kyle Waldrop looks the part, but had a rough day at the plate. Still, pitchers are ahead of hitters.

**Raisel Iglesias wasn't great. But nothing too discouraging. The Soto error didn't help. Iglesias showed good arm-side run on his fastball. Fastball command was spotty, missing up consistently for stretches.

**Interesting point by Brantley on how Iglesias changed his arm slot on one particular pitch, going more over the top on a fastball. Brantley talked about it as an advantage, though I've heard other organizations wanting to eliminate the common Cuban pitcher tendency of using multiple arm slots because it eliminates deception on the pitches. If you believe in the idea of pitch-tunneling, then multiple arm slots would be a disadvantage.

Spring Training Notes

The Reds topped the Pirates 12-11 on Saturday, illustrating that as to be expected, the hitters are ahead of the pitchers. Anyway, here are some early thoughts on the Reds spring training happenings.

1) The Alex Gonzalez injury means that the Reds are likely to need another shortstop to start early in the season. One would think that Jeff Keppinger would be the easy, logical choice. However, today's starting shortstop brings a shudder down the spine. Instead of anointing Keppinger the starter and letting him play at short, Dusty instead gave Juan Castro the start and Adam Rosales the mop up duty. It seems very odd that Keppinger only played first base, especially since Adam Rosales is very unlikely to be a shortstop at the MLB level.

2) Jay Bruce continues to what he has always done. Crush the baseball. The level of competition doesn't seem to matter, as Jay Bruce can rip them all. He could roll out of bed in the dead of winter and hit. And, Reds fans, he's ours for years to come.

3) Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn each hit their first homerun of the spring off of Zach Duke. Duke set the world on fire in his rookie year, but now serves as little more than an important example of pitchers needing to strikeout more than 5.0 per nine innings to be effective. At this point, his low strikeout rates seem likely to doom his career.

4) Josh Roenicke could steal a spot in the bullpen with a stellar spring. My gut tells me that he needs more polish, but performances like today could push him to the MLB level. He pitched one inning, allowing no base runners and striking out 2.

5) The infamous "Trade" between the Reds and the Nats has done nothing but ruin the careers of just about everyone involved. Kearns and Lopez have been disappointments in Washington and Billy Bray and Gary Majewski have been disasters for the Reds. Bray can't get healthy and Majewski has been a gas can in Cincy organization. I have high hopes for Bray, but he needs to get healthy in a hurry. At this point, Majewski with his 40.50 spring training ERA is on the verge of becoming irrelevant.

6) It is nice to see Rosales moving back up the defensive spectrum, as that can only increase his value. His bat isn't going to be enough to handle firstbase, but if he can play a more challenging defensive position, then his prospect value increases.

7) While Norris Hopper is the clear option in centerfield if Jay Bruce heads back to the minors, it is good to see the Reds giving Chris Dickerson a look. He is one of the best athletes in the system, but a lack of consistent contact has plagued his development. However, he can certainly be of use if he can increase his contact rate.