Friday, March 11, 2011

Spring Training Report

   Today the Rangers are taking on the AL Champion Rangers. Jonny Cueto will start the game for the Reds while Colby Lewis takes the mound for the Rangers. The Reds are now 8-5 in Spring Training coming off a loss to the World Series Champion Giants yesterday. Arroyo had one bad inning giving up four runs although it didn't matter how many he gave up, the Reds were fooled by the Giants pitching. Volquez got his first work of spring in after dealing with his visa issues. He went 2.1 innings giving up 1 earned, striking out two.

   There is a lot of competition going on for bullpen spots and those last two rotation spots. Left field looks interesting too even though Baker said Gomes is his guy in left field. Nobody is making decisions easy for Baker, Jeremy Hermida has a .357 average in the spring and Fred Lewis may only be hitting .214 but Gomes has yet to get it going only hitting .059.

   As for prospects, Devin Mesoraco is looking great this spring and making a case for being on this team at some point this year. He's raking the ball hitting  .462. Aroldis Chapman has been consistently wild all spring even tho he has yet to have a really bad outing. Yonder Alonso is seeing the ball well and has a home run this spring but isn't expected to play any kind of role in the Majors unless Votto has injuries. Yasmani Grandal isn't doing anything spectacular and will start the year in Double-A. Dave Sappelt who most of us haven't heard about including myself until this spring is making a big splash. He's hitting .500 and has two homers with 6 RBI. He's got the best stats of the spring on the team. Although he's probably not going to make the team out of Spring Training, he could see the Majors in in September or next season.

   The last two spots in the rotation are still up for grabs, but so far it's looking like Homer Bailey and Travis Wood are going to have them. Bailey is out of options so if he doesn't make the team the Reds would have to trade him or release him and I don't think they are willing to do either of those right now. Leake hasn't looked sharp this spring and may need to start the year in Triple-A to figure it out.

   The bullpen only has a few "for sure" guys. Cordero, Masset, and Chapman are the three who will be on the squad no matter what. Bill Bray was the favorite for the lefty in the 'pen but he's struggled mightily, giving up seven earned in 3.2 innings.  Dontrelle Willis has looked pretty good only giving up two runs, both unearned in five innings of work. Jared Burton, Matt Maloney, Sam LeCure, and Daryl Thompson are all making strong cases for themselves, while Arrendondo who was a favorite has pitched his way out of the running.

   The countdown to Opening Day is 20 Days! Go Reds!