What are they waiting on? Will Zach Cozart have to hit .350, or will the current major league shortstops have to hit .150? The Reds under General Manager Walt Jocketty have shown an incredible amount of patience, and sometimes that is good. Let's face it, Jocketty's patience is a nice yin for the yang of owner Bob Castellini and his popular "damn the torpedoes! Let's win now!" attitude. But it's time, maybe past time, to see what the kid can do at the major league level. Cozart is presently hitting .320 this season, and that is well above his minor league average. Walt is obviously holding out hope that Janish and Renteria can turn it around and Cozart can continue to develop confidence in his offensive skills at Triple-A. It's much better to call up guys who are a finished product. But when you are trying to win games at the major league level, you don't always have that luxury. I understand the dilemma, and the Reds have a lot of smart people grading their players and measuring their readiness at the major league level. But when your guys at the major league level are stinking it up, you have to make the move.
What about the move at the top of the lineup? Even Chris Heisey says he doesn't agree that one game should garner more playing time for himself. But if I'm making the decision, Heisey is leading off Friday night in Baltimore. For a team that needs offense, you can't sit the hot hand. Heisey hit three home runs and scored four runs Wednesday night. It seems like a no-brainer to me.
For what seems like the first time since Jack McKeon was too young to smoke cigars, the Reds are stocked with up-and-coming talent at their Triple-A farm club. We've talked about Cozart, but you can add catcher Devin Mesoraco, outfielder Dave Sappelt, and outfielder/first baseman Yonder Alonso to the list of players forcing the Reds to take another look. Mesoraco is hitting .322, with an on-base percentage above .400. Alonso and Sappelt are both above .300 but hitting has never been an issue with these guys. Finding a position is the issue with Alonso. He's playing left field at Louisville these days but covering ground out there is an issue.
Exactly right, George! I know it is a sport, but when fans must shell out their own money to enjoy it, they demand something worth coming to. Unfortunately, the leadership right now is not wanting to pull the trigger.
ReplyDeletePut Stubbs on the bench and bring up Sappelt. Or, better yet, send Stubbs to Triple-A. Why can they do it for Chapman but not Stubbs?!
Gomes maybe showing signs of coming around - I'm willing to hang out on him for another week, but if he goes back to the same old "don't worry about my playing, just tell me how good my mohawk looks" then he needs to go as well.
Cozart - enough said. To keep Janish for his glove (which hasn't been that impressive this year) is the Brett Boone paradox - I can catch the ball, just can't hit it.
I like Hernandez behind the plate. I think he's doing a great job this year. Hanigan, on the other hand, is about as cold as Janish. I would favor Hanigan being moved to allow for Mesoraco.
This team is on the edge right now - they need someone to make some touch decisions for the sake of the rest of the season. Let's not see 2010 just an interruption in a 25 year period of a lack of success.
tough* decisions
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