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From: John Kasupski on 8 Oct 2009 01:35
On Wed, 7 Oct 2009 13:01:46 -0400, "Bob Braun" <oxinfla(a)hotmail.com> wrote:

>When you made your prediction, how many Reds position players would start
>ahead of the guy the Nationals had in place?

Depends on who's managing, I suppose. I mean, this isn't an objective call here.
The best I could do would be to go down the Opening Day rosters for both clubs
and tell you which team's player I'd rather have playing that position for my
team. And I'll do that in a second here. But before I do, I'd like to point out
that when I made my prediction, a big part of it was based on pitching. Or in
Washington's case, the lack of it. How many Reds pitchers would be getting
innings ahead of their counterparts on the Nats? Almost the entire staff!

That said...

Catcher - Jesus Flores vs. Ramon Hernandez. I go with Hernandez. Proven veteran
major league catcher with better power numbers than relatively untested Flores.

First base - Nick Johnson vs. Joey Votto. Johnson was coming off an
injury-filled 2008 in which he played in only 38 games. Joey was coming off a
2008 where he'd probably have been Rookie of the Year if he played in New York
or Boston or if Geovany Soto had spent one more year at AAA. I'll take Votto.

Second Base - Ron Belliard vs. Brandon Phillips? Please! Phillips was coming off
a 2008 season in which he made the 20-20 club for the second year in a row and
also won a GG. Belliard has never hit 20 HRs and probably couldn't steal 20 bags
if you handed him a loaded shotgun and sent him into a sporting goods store.

Shortstops - Cristian Guzman vs. Alex Gonzalez. With Gonzalez having missed all
of 2008, he was a huge question mark to start this season. I think I might have
actually gone with Guzman here.

Third base - Ryan Zimmerman vs. Edwin Encarnacion. I really don't need to say
much about Zimmerman here. Encarnacion is the worst third baseman in MLB.

Left field - Adam Dunn vs. Jerry Hairston. Wow, what a choice, a DH playing the
outfield against a utility player coming off a career year. Frankly, I don't
want either one of these guys. But since I have to pick between the two, I'll go
with Dunn. I can always trade him before the September disappearing act. :)

Center field - Lastings Milledge vs. Darnell McDonald. Based on their 2008 MLB
stats...oh, wait, McDonald didn't have any. :-) Guess I'll go with Milledge.

Right Field - Austin Kearns vs. Jay Bruce. I just looked at their 2008 numbers,
and all I can say is that it's really a shame about Kearns. I'll take Bruce.

So it's an even split, four Reds, four Nationals. Just goes to show you how much
of a difference pitching, or the lack thereof, makes in this game.

JK

From: Bob Braun on 8 Oct 2009 02:23

"John Kasupski" <w2pio(a)spamfilter.verizon.net> wrote in message
news:b1pqc5pojcgfln4baunqh12l0cna8ckpr6(a)4ax.com...
> On Wed, 7 Oct 2009 13:01:46 -0400, "Bob Braun" <oxinfla(a)hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>When you made your prediction, how many Reds position players would start
>>ahead of the guy the Nationals had in place?
>
> Depends on who's managing, I suppose. I mean, this isn't an objective call
> here.
> The best I could do would be to go down the Opening Day rosters for both
> clubs
> and tell you which team's player I'd rather have playing that position for
> my
> team. And I'll do that in a second here. But before I do, I'd like to
> point out
> that when I made my prediction, a big part of it was based on pitching. Or
> in
> Washington's case, the lack of it. How many Reds pitchers would be getting
> innings ahead of their counterparts on the Nats? Almost the entire staff!
>
> That said...
>
> Catcher - Jesus Flores vs. Ramon Hernandez. I go with Hernandez. Proven
> veteran
> major league catcher with better power numbers than relatively untested
> Flores.
>
> First base - Nick Johnson vs. Joey Votto. Johnson was coming off an
> injury-filled 2008 in which he played in only 38 games. Joey was coming
> off a
> 2008 where he'd probably have been Rookie of the Year if he played in New
> York
> or Boston or if Geovany Soto had spent one more year at AAA. I'll take
> Votto.
>
> Second Base - Ron Belliard vs. Brandon Phillips? Please! Phillips was
> coming off
> a 2008 season in which he made the 20-20 club for the second year in a row
> and
> also won a GG. Belliard has never hit 20 HRs and probably couldn't steal
> 20 bags
> if you handed him a loaded shotgun and sent him into a sporting goods
> store.
>
> Shortstops - Cristian Guzman vs. Alex Gonzalez. With Gonzalez having
> missed all
> of 2008, he was a huge question mark to start this season. I think I might
> have
> actually gone with Guzman here.
>
> Third base - Ryan Zimmerman vs. Edwin Encarnacion. I really don't need to
> say
> much about Zimmerman here. Encarnacion is the worst third baseman in MLB.
>
> Left field - Adam Dunn vs. Jerry Hairston. Wow, what a choice, a DH
> playing the
> outfield against a utility player coming off a career year. Frankly, I
> don't
> want either one of these guys. But since I have to pick between the two,
> I'll go
> with Dunn. I can always trade him before the September disappearing act.
> :)
>
> Center field - Lastings Milledge vs. Darnell McDonald. Based on their 2008
> MLB
> stats...oh, wait, McDonald didn't have any. :-) Guess I'll go with
> Milledge.
>
> Right Field - Austin Kearns vs. Jay Bruce. I just looked at their 2008
> numbers,
> and all I can say is that it's really a shame about Kearns. I'll take
> Bruce.
>
> So it's an even split, four Reds, four Nationals. Just goes to show you
> how much
> of a difference pitching, or the lack thereof, makes in this game.
>
> JK

No doubt the Reds were far superior in the pitching department.

As far as Kearns goes, I think his problems are based on lack of effort.


From: JustTom on 8 Oct 2009 12:47
On Wed, 7 Oct 2009 13:01:46 -0400, "Bob Braun" <oxinfla(a)hotmail.com>
wrote:
>
>When you made your prediction, how many Reds position players would start
>ahead of the guy the Nationals had in place?

I remember somebody asking this question maybe after the AS break, and
I remember mentally doing it during the last series we played them in
August since I watched it on tv.

It was easy to look up the exact game because Gomes hit 3 HRS and BA
shut them out, and then we dropped the next 3.

I don't really watch or follow the nats even though they're local tv
for me, so I don't know how many changes they've made since that
series, but these are the guys that played all of that series.
Belliard had been benched due to lack of production, although they
gave him a spot start later in the weekend. He killed us all
weekend.

Based on that series, I could only come up with 2 red for sures and 1
maybe that I'd take , and I'm sure you'd be surprised that Votto
wasn't one of them.


C Bard/Hanigan Reds Win
1B Dunn/Votto Nats win
2B Gonzalez/Phillips Reds Win
3B Zimmerman/Rosales Nats Win
SS Guzman/Gonzalez Nats Win
LF Willingham/Nix Nats Win
CF Morgan/Dickerson tossup
RF Dukes/Gomes Nats Win

To me, the only truly better positions were 2B and catcher at that
point, and perhaps center, but not by much. Since that time, we've
had some changes, and if their roster was the same, I'd switch a
couple.

Phillips hands down against Belliard or anybody else they have.

Hanigan, even if he ends up hitting no more than Bard has an accurate
cannon of an arm, blocks and catches well and is a bit younger and
much cheaper. I don't know how he calls a game, but physically he's a
more talented catcher than Bard.

As good a year as he had, it's still Joey's first full one. We all
know about AD's consistent production and he plays every game. Joey
has some issues that leave the future very much in question. I'd
want AD.

Janish took over for AGon, thankfully, but it doesn't matter, Guzman
still.

Zimmerman over Rosales, EE, or even the since added Rolen, hands
down.

Willingham over Nix easy.

I picked Dickerson as the "maybe". He's a bit younger and played
adequately when healthy, but health looks like it's his big issue, and
Morgan played really well for that stretch so it was tough even though
Morgan is old. Sub Stubbs in and I'll make it a definite so that's a
switch from August. Reds Win

Dukes over Gomes Dukes is talented and only 25. However, he has
issues. I'd still take him over Gomes but am happy to switch over to
Bruce now that he's back. Reds Win.

So, in August, I had Nats starters 5-2 with a tie. With the
addition of Stubbs and Bruce, reds pulled even 4-4.

So, whoopee, we've managed to catch up to the Nats.

From: john smith on 8 Oct 2009 15:47
Kearns lack of effort, he has been in the league about 10 years and is
the epitome of mediocrity. He sure does look like he is just going
through the motions out there. Once a very highly touted prospect, I
think it is safe to say.... he was a big bust. It is amazing how many
prospects become suspects. Jay Bruce has a lot to prove....

Is it just poor pitching and a coincidence that Kearns and Dunn always
seem to play for very bad teams or is it something else too?

Losing can be a disease. All teams have adversity at some point in the
season. The mentally strong teams whether the storm. Teams like the Reds
and Nats. never stop the proverbial snowball from speeding down the
hill. When you get used to losing, it is very easy to say, " here we go
again" and then you lose touch with the field and it is all over before
you can blink an eye...Reds will have to overcome this in the future
maybe with the help of Rolen, who knows...

From: Bob Braun on 8 Oct 2009 16:31

"john smith" <eddygdvd(a)msn.com> wrote in message
news:17008-4ACE41CD-7798(a)baytvnwsxa002.msntv.msn.com...
> Kearns lack of effort, he has been in the league about 10 years and is
> the epitome of mediocrity. He sure does look like he is just going
> through the motions out there. Once a very highly touted prospect, I
> think it is safe to say.... he was a big bust. It is amazing how many
> prospects become suspects. Jay Bruce has a lot to prove....

I was fan of Kearns ability to drive a pitch on the outer half of the plate.
I was always distraught that he didn't seek and destroy that pitch. He
insisted that he was going to pull the ball. Anyway, I watched him very
closely.

I don't see any of the negative traits in Bruce, that I saw in Kearns. On
the other hand, Kearns could do it and for whatever reason, just didn't want
to. Bruce may want to do it, but can't. Too early to tell.

As for the correlation of Dunn/Kearns to losers. They both came up through
the Reds system, so they land on that team by default.

Dunn had the cup of coffee in Arizona. They were not losers.

Both players were coveted by leather pants. The only correlation I see
relative to Kearns/Dunn and losers is Jim Bowden.


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