Cincinnati Reds Not Ready to Lead Division
I wrote before the Cincinnati Reds - Washington Nationals series that we would know a lot more about the Reds after they had competed with the East Division leading Nationals at GABP over the weekend. My premise was that the Reds had won 5 series in a row; however, they had come against teams that had a sub-.500 record. (In their defense, that is every team but the St. Louis Cardinals in the Central Division.) Well, after the series we have discovered that the Reds are the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”.
During the three-game series with the Nationals, the Cincinnati Reds managed only 3 runs and 1 run in the first two games. The bats for the Reds were, once again, shut down by the Nationals’ pitching. In fact, in the 6 losses to the Nationals, the Reds have produced right at 2 runs per game. So the Reds’ hitting is really struggling against elite competition.
I believe that the hitting will come around for the Cincinnati Reds. It is no surprise that they struggled against such quality pitching. That’s what quality pitching does to a team. However, the Reds proved conclusively that they do not have the starting rotation to keep up with teams like the Nationals.
Mike Leake (0-5) was obviously overmatched against the Nationals’ hitters. He gave up 7 hits and 6 runs in only 3 innings of work on Friday. He did not have command of the strike zone and was absolutely rocked by the Nationals.
Mat Latos pitched admirably in the second game, giving up 3 hits and 1 run in 5 innings worth of work. The problem for Latos is that the Cincinnati Reds only pushed across 1 run themselves and he had already thrown 100 pitches at the end of 5, thus his early exit.
Bronson Arroyo did not do much better. Although he has pitched very well so far this season, on Sunday he didn’t have it. He allowed 7 hits and 4 runs in only 5 innings worth of work. On the bright side, he didn’t allow a homerun, something he has started doing lately.
In my opinion, if the Cincinnati Reds are really going to compete with the big boys and not just win against the struggling teams, they must make a move in the starting rotation. Either Mike Leake or Homer Bailey needs to be moved to make room for Aroldis Chapman. I mean, come on. Chapman has pitched 17.2 innings, allowed 6 hits, NO runs and struck out 31. He is wasting away in the long relief position in which he is right now. Move him into the starting rotation. I bet the Reds would have, at least, 3 more wins right now if he were a starter.
As it stands, though, the Cincinnati Reds lost the series but still made up ground with the St. Louis Cardinals. They finished the week still in second place and now only 2.5 games behind first.
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