The World Wide misLeader in Sports, our friends at ESPN, are at it again.
This time, it's Ken Griffey Jr. to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Well, that would work for the Reds, but why would it work for the Rays?
Griffey's numbers are about equal to current rightfielder Gabe Gross, but he's not as productive on defense. And the Rays already have Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske, Johnny Gomes and possibly Rocco Baldelli at some point, and that's already four designated hitters. There's no need for Griffey.
Floyd is signed through this season, so perhaps next season when Griffey's on the free agent market. But not until then.
Reds manager Dusty Baker said the team would have "serious discussions"
on Monday's off day about Homer Bailey's place in the rotation
following Sunday’s 9-0 loss to the Red Sox.
"There's got to be some discussions," Baker said. "If you're not making
pitches and it's your job to do, we've got to figure out what's up and
why. They hit him pretty good."
After going just 2.1 innings, allowing four hits, five runs, three home
runs, a walk and striking out only Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, Bailey
said he's frustrated and understands where he may stand.
"Those decisions are out of my hands," Bailey said. "Any decision made by Dusty, I'd certainly respect it."
Bailey is 0-3 with an 8.76 ERA in three starts this season. After a
promising first start at Philadelphia in which he gave up just two
earned runs (and three unearned) in 6.1 innings, he's combined to go
just six innings and allowing 13 hits, 10 runs (all earned) and five
home runs in Sunday's start and last Tuesday against the Cardinals.
On Sunday, the Red Sox took Bailey's nickname too literally. Three of the four hits he allowed were home runs.
"You've got to make pitches, you've got to locate your fastball and
hopefully you can get your secondary pitches over," Baker said. "In the
big leagues, you don't get those secondary pitches over, these guys sit
on one pitch and you have to locate perfectly to get them out."
Jacoby Ellsbury had the only non-home run hit off of Bailey, singling
to lead off the game. However, he turned that single into extra bases
by taking advantage of Bailey’s slow motion toward the plate, stealing
second and third base before scoring on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly.
Coco Crisp hit a two-run homer in the second. Ellsbury and J.D. Drew
hit solo shots in the third and Bailey's day was done after he walked
third baseman Mike Lowell on four pitches.
"Location is the key, he didn't really have a second pitch he could
call for a strike very often," catcher David Ross said. "There was one
strikeout and it was to their pitcher, so that tells you guys weren't
fooled by his stuff. We had to throw a lot of heaters. He couldn’t get
ahead of the count and when he did, he couldn't put anybody away. It
was a rough outing for him, I feel bad for him. It's hard as a team
with drawn-out innings, those first three innings felt like they lasted
five hours. That put us behind the 8-ball."
The Red Sox added three more runs off reliever Jeremy Affeldt in the
fifth and then Pedroia hit the fourth Red Sox home run of the day off
of Gary Majewski in the sixth. Even without Manny Ramirez or David
Ortiz in the lineup, the Red Sox tied their season-high of four home
runs. It was the fourth time they've done it this season.
The Reds managed just six hits, three of those from Joey Votto and two
more from shortstop Jolbert Cabrera in his first start as a Red. After
stranding runners on first and second in the first two innings, Beckett
didn't allow another runner to get to second until the seventh inning.
Right-hander Daryl Thompson pitched well against at Class AAA
Louisville on Saturday, and could be called up to take Bailey's spot in
the rotation on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
Although Bailey struggled at times last season, going 4-2 with a 5.76
ERA with the Reds in nine starts, Bailey said this level of futility is
new to him.
"It's a first for me. I guess everyone goes through hard times. I'll
get with (pitching coach) Dick (Pole) and try to work things out,"
Bailey said. "I'm trying to pick things up and find a way, not try to
find a way, but to find a way."
* Today is Dusty Baker's birthday, as well as Father's Day.
Baker said his sister sent some of her frozen enchiladas with his wife when she flew out here. Not only did his wife come out with their son Darren, but also his older daughter Natosha, flew in to surrpise him for his birthday and Father's Day.
Tonight's just going to be a relaxing family night, with enchiladas on the menu.
"Eat them and watch Sunday Night Baseball," Baker said. "Sounds like a pretty good evening. Sit on the deck and eat 'em, watch the river."
Baker's son Darren threw out a first pitch for Father's Day, with his dad catching.
* As for Cabrera at short, Baker said he wanted the offense against the tougher pitcher, in the Sox's Beckett.
Baker defended Janish and his offensive struggles.
"The reports were he needed to improve his offense," Baker said of Janish coming out of spring. "He went to triple-A and he was vastly improved, but we had to call him here out of necessity, when you would have liked to see him stay there and improve some more."
When asked if there's room in today's game for a starter who is stricktly a glove guy, Baker again defended Janish.
"No, he's not strictly a glove guy," Baker said. "Almost every day and age you have to hit some. Like I said, he was improving big-time. It's too early to say he's not going to hit. It ain't that easy to just come out of the minor leagues and come up here and hit. He's going to get better up here. There are a bunch of guys that came up here and struggled early. Some of them are in the Hall of Fame. Remember, Ozzie Smith struggled, but he learned how to do it. Larry Bowa struggled, but he learned how to do it."
Hal McCoy noted Davey Concepcion.
"Concepcion, what did he hit? .180, .190?" Baker asked. "Right. You understand? But he was also on a team that can carry you. Look at Mark Belanger. He was on a high-powered offense that can carry him. A lot of it depends on what kind of offense you have surrounding these guys. Like I said, it's too early to label what he can do and what he can't do.
It was noted that players aren't being given that chance anymore.
"That's because we're impatient," Baker said. "We're a lot more impatient now. We're much more oriented to win now, instead of trying to developing somebody. It's like, `OK, he can't do it. Get him out and get another guy in.' And that's not right, but that's how it is."
Someone mentioned that the jump from Triple-A to the big leagues is the biggest transition in baseball.
"Now. It didn't used to be, but it is now. It used to be, Triple-A was a lot of former major leaguers teaching the minor leaguers how to play," Baker said. "When I came up, there were very few Triple-A teams that were all young. If they were, then they were an exceptional draft, guys who come together -- the Dodgers, the Orioles. We didn't have that on the Braves. We had three or four prospects there and a lot of guys who were former major leaguers.
It all depends on the organization you're in.
"Sometimes an organization's strength is a certain position. Sometimes they're outfield-strong. The Angels had three or four shortstops that were capable of being in the big leagues. Some guys were pitching-strong.
You figure we lost Gonzalez, we lost Keppinger, Jerry Hairston. How many teams lose three shortstops and have four that you can put it there? Not many. Most times you lose that, you're going to double-A or high-A, or you've got to go trade for somebody."
* The other day I asked about Cueto and his struggles, Baker said he had someone look up the rookie stats of the core of Braves pitchers from the early 90s. Steve Avery was 3-11 with a 5.64 ERA, Greg Maddux was 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA, Glavine was 7-17 with a 4.56 ERA and Smoltz was 2-7 with a 5.48 ERA.
"At this point, he's way ahead of them," Baker said with a laugh. "Imagine if (Cueto) was 7-17, they'd be like get him out of here. It's some
things you're curious about. We see the end result of these guys. I
remember one of the biggest mistakes the Cardinals made was trading
Carlton, I don't think he remembers he lost 20."
Baker was asked if you look for progress or results from a young pitcher like Cueto.
"You
want both. You want to see progress and then progress in results as
well," Baker said. "That's what you want. You take away this year and lok at
Detroit's staff and where they were. Who lost 19? Bonderman?"
Things are looking up with the minor leagues, Baker said, noting Daryl Thomson's performance in Lousiville's 4-1 victory over Rochester Saturday. Thompson gave up one run on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 8.2 innings. Josh Roenicke picked up his second save with the other out.
"The good news is we've got some more dudes coming soon. Roenicke is
coming quickly, Thompson threw a great game last night, 8 2/3s," Baker said. "There's
some competition that's coming that can push some of the guys that are
here or pass up some of the guys that are here. We liked what we saw of Roenicke in spring big time. What we saw froma
guy in a short period of time for a guy who wasn't even a pitcher. Guys
are raving about Thompson too. God knows who else is coming. When they
start coming, hopefully we have os many we've got to make a decision on
who to keep and who to trade for something we need."
* Also last night at Rochester, Jeff Keppinger played third and went 1-for-2 with a walk and run scored, Norris Hopper played center and had a hit in four at-bats.
* Drew Stubbs was the Florida State League All-Star Game MVP, hitting a two-run homer in hte 9-3 West Division victory. DH Juan Francisco also had a hit, leftfielder Chris Heisey was 0-for-2 and RHP Ramon Geronimo pitched a perfect 2/3 inning.
Kevin Youkilis had a reservation at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse for Saturday night and his homer in the 10th inning helped make sure his friends and family would get their ribs on time.
After Edwin Encarnacion extended the game with a home run with two outs and two strikes off Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon in the bottom of the ninth, the Sycamore High School and University of Cincinnati alumnus hit Mike Lincoln's 2-2 pitch into the seats in center field to give the Red Sox the lead. Coco Crisp followed with a homer on the first pitch he saw from Lincoln to give the Red Sox a 6-4 victory in 10 innings on Saturday.
"I can say I've hit a home run at every level in Cincinnati, from t-ball on up," Youkilis said. "It's a good feeling. It's good because there's a lot of people here and they got to see it. It's an exciting feeling, we'll have dinner, have fun and talk about it."
Youkilis didn't start in Friday's Reds victory at Great American Ball Park in favor of honorary Cincinnatian Sean Casey, but got the nod on Saturday to play in his hometown.
Youkilis grew up a Reds fan, played at Sycamore High School and the University of Cincinnati. At one time he held a grudge against the team for not even looking at him during his time as a Bearcat. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the eighth round of the 2001 draft.
Since then, he said he's forgiven the Reds -- in part because there is a new regime in town and, well, he has two World Series rings with Boston.
Saturday's performance was fun, but as a member of the Red Sox traveling rock show, it's nothing new to hear chants of "Youk" even on the road, where the Red Sox always draw big crowds.
"It definitely makes you feel at home. It's something you get used to at Fenway Park. Anywhere we go, we travel with a lot of fans. We have a lot of people who come out to cheer for us, so it's not unusual," Youkilis said."It's definitely a good feeling to have a lot of people supporting me over the years. They've been there since I was in college. They were good to me through my professional career. They were good to me today, they didn’t ask me for any tickets, that shows I have good friends and family."
Nevertheless, Saturday was fun.
Youkilis went 3-for-5 with not only the 10th-inning homer, but also an RBI single in the sixth inning.
The Red Sox were able to get an unearned run on Reds starter Edinson Volquez in the first when Jacoby Ellsbury singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored when Paul Bako’s throw bounced off Edwin Encarnacion's glove into left.
The Reds tied it one Adam Dunn’s second-inning home run, but in the fourth J.D. Drew tripled and scored on Volquez’s second wild pitch.
"(Volquez's) stuff is electric," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "With Jacoby's legs and the ball in the dirt, we got a couple off of them early, maybe that's sometime you get them, because he's got great stuff. It's not exactly a mirror image of the way guys were throwing, but (Boston starter Tim Wakefield) was good."
Wakefield, the 41-year old knuckleballer, allowed only four hits in seven innings, while striking out six. Dunn's homer and Brandon Phillips' blast in the seventh accounted for the only two runs off the Red Sox starter.
Both teams scored in the eighth inning and Ken Griffey Jr. ended the inning, grounding into a double play on a 3-0 count.
In the ninth, Phillips and Dunn both grounded out before Encarnacion fouled off two 2-2 fastballs from Papelbon before hitting his 11th home run of the season.
"We'd heard this ballpark plays pretty small," Francona said. "I agree. (And) to our benefit (on Saturday). Youk to a great swing and so did Coco. In that situation, where you're down to the last strike and then all of a sudden you've got to keep playing in the visitor's ballpark in extra innings. We did some good things. Encarnacion's at-bat against Pap was a good at-bat. He threw every pitch he had and could't get the fastball by him. He got a split up and all of a sudden we've got to keep playing. The good news is we kept playing."
And Youkilis got one more chance to impress his friends and family in the stands.
"Just being here in Cincinnati and play professionally in front of a lot of people I grew up with. It means a lot," Youkilis said. "It's a great feeling to come here and play. After this series, I might not play here again. It's definitely a cool thing to play here. It's going to be fun to go out tonight and hang out with some friends."
Transaction, Gary Majewski was activated from the bereavement list after the birth of his daughter. Danny Herrera was sent to Class AAA Louisville.
"He’s going back, but I told him he’s impressed us and he’s impressed his teammates, which is equally or more important," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It’s never been easy for him, sometimes it makes you hungrier because he knows what he can do. Right now with the numbers, his permanent time is not now, his temporary time is here now, it’s not his permanent time now."
Baker likes what he's seen from Herrera, the 5-foot-6 lefty.
"He works hard, he wants it, he’s not scared," Baker said. "A guy that stature, you know he’s had to fight all the odds to get here, to even sign in the first place. Especially in the day of the radar gun, they want the 6-5, 225 pound guy throwing 95 even if he’s not getting anybody out."
* Lineup change: Julio Lugo is out of the game with an "upset stomach." Joey Cora batting in his spot.
* Dusty Baker said Jolbert Cabrera will get a start at shortstop sometime soon, but he didn't want it to be today.
".A lot of it depends on who is pitching for us more than who is pitching against us," Baker said. "(Edinson) Volquez is throwing more ground balls and (Bronson) Arroyo throwing more fly balls."
The team is better defensively with Janish, and with him there and more ground balls, the team can be better.
Baker also said he didn't want to give him a day off after four strikeouts in Friday's game, because you need to get right back into action to try to get that off your mind. Baker told him the story of the time he struck out four times in a game and in his last at-bat he tried to bunt in his last at-bat just so he wouldn't strike out. He missed the bunt and ended up strking out. When he got back to his dugout, his teammates gave him a standing ovation.
And yes, closet Cub fans, he's heard the complaints about Janish batting second.
"A guy got on me about him batting second, I can’t have too many outs at the bottom either and give them an easy inning," Baker said. "I figured, with Junior behind him, they’ll give him something to hit or I can hit-and-run or bunt a guy over."
* Baker was asked about his team playing better against the better teams, including Friday's 3-1 win over the Red Sox.
"That is a tough one. You would hope the day would come soon that you play at your level versus at playing at their level. That’s what I’m working on," Baker said. "That’s something that sometiems takes time. If you’re going to be a winner, you’ve got to have other people play up to your level and not you up tio their’s.
"A lot of it depends on what kind of pitching performance you get that day. That’s what most of it depends on it. If we pitch well that day, we usually win. We’re trying to get to the point of consistency over a long period of time, which sometimes, al the time you want it, but it’s tough to expect when you have such a young staff."
"You want to build Rome today, but Rome wasn’t built overnight, even though you want it built."
