Reds down to 3 games back

Who could have predicted after the beating the Reds took at the hands of St. Louis that the team could bounce back so quickly and look to be playing the best baseball? The Pirates and Cardinals are beginning to take a fall mostly because of playing one another right now, and the Reds are taking advantage by beating the teams they should. The Reds have won seven of eight games, including a series win over San Diego on walk off Sunday fashion by Joey Votto and a sweep of the lowly Cubs. The Cubs never seem to have enough scoring prowess to beat the Reds, but they were able to battle for extra innings on Tuesday and the Reds were resilient enough to score two runs on a hit by Shin-Soo Choo and win 6-4.

The pitching has been absolutely incredible for the Reds lately. Bronson Arroyo and Mat Latos are easily noticeable in affecting the Reds in a positive way, but bullpen options like JJ Hoover and Jonathan Broxton have been pitching as well as anyone in baseball. Hoover's scoreless innings streak is starting to put him in elite Reds company. Broxton has given the Reds his classic closer stuff in a lesser role. Aroldis Chapman's fastball is still too tough to pick up for opponents and Sam LeCure is the best Red at getting out of tough spots. 

As the Reds head to Milwaukee, the team expects to continue to get stable pitching and use recent hitting spurts by Todd Frazier and Zack Cozart to guide them to more and more wins. Frazier is finally getting out of his deep slump with multi-hit games and even a homer in today's game. The three game deficit could become 2.5 with another Pittsburgh loss tonight. Watch out for a shift in the Central. This division could easily see the Reds looking down at St. Louis and Pittsburgh in a couple weeks. The team that plays best late in the season usually ends up with the best status in the standings. The Reds are defending champs of the Central and they are playing like they really don't want to give that crown up in 2013. 

Bottom part of Reds' order heating up

When the Reds are able to get hitting out of the bottom of their order, they tend to dominate games. This phenomenon has been on display over the past few games with the 6-8 spots in the order being able to make solid contact and find the gaps off of the opposing pitchers.

In game one of yesterday's doubleheader, with the Reds' regulars on the field against former Moeller pitcher Eric Surkamp, Todd Frazier, Zack Cozart, and Devin Mesoraco were each able to get at least two hits. Frazier looks like he is swinging the bat very well recently. He is now nine for his last twenty-one with six RBI's and four doubles. Frazier has had a hit in eight of the last nine games, and has multi-hit games in the last three outings, including three hits in game two of the doubleheader with Cozart and Mesoraco starting the game on the bench.

Devin Mesoraco is the hottest hitter on the team since the All Star Break. He is hitting .474 in his last nineteen at bats with two homers and six RBI's. Mesoraco is getting more of an opportunity to play with Ryan Hanigan on the shelf with a wrist injury. Mesoraco certainly is on track to become an everyday catcher at the Major League level, and he may have earned some of Dusty Baker's trust by raising his batting average to .258 and still handling solid pitching performances by Bronson Arroyo and Tony Cingrani. There aren't many catchers in the game who can hit like Mesoraco. Joe Mauer and Buster Posey are the exceptions to the rule that catchers aren't usually able to excel at hitting. Mesoraco can join that elite club of top hitting catchers if he becomes the normal starter.

Zack Cozart may finally be getting out of his slump and feeling more comfortable batting lower in the order. Cozart always is consistent in the field, but now he is stringing together some impressive hitting performances and is a big reason the Reds have scored so many runs against the Giants. Cozart is hitting .350 in his last twenty at bats, and was 4/4 with a homer yesterday in the early matchup. Cozart will get less and less grief from the fans if he can raise his batting average up to where it was in the .250-.260 range last season. The Reds don't need as much production from the seventh spot in the order with a good glove like Cozart, but if a player like Cozart continues to get hits, it is a bonus that can lift an entire team up to playing at an advanced level.

The Reds have averaged 5.83 runs per game in the six they have played since the All Star Break. These runs have come off of some notable pitchers on successful teams in
Pittsburgh and San Francisco. Yes, Joey Votto and Shin-Soo Choo are finding their strokes and returning to their elite form, but young players with bright futures such as Frazier, Cozart, and Mesoraco are really giving a boost to Dusty Baker's lineup.

Reds weekend observations

The Reds fell back in their quest to gain control of the NL Central this weekend by dropping two of three to the lowly Seattle Mariners, a team in second to last place in the AL West and ten games under .500. As the All Star break approaches and the halfway mark in the season just completed, here are some observations on the progress of the team at this juncture.

-At just over the half way point, the Reds are still in good shape in terms of overall record. The team was nine games over .500 at the break last year and in second place, a game behind Pittsburgh. This year, the Reds are behind both St. Louis and Pittsburgh with some ground to make up. The Reds went on a long winning streak after the break last year in mid to late July, so as long as they keep pace and don't get over five games behind the first place Pirates, they should be fine going forward.

-The bullpen and starting pitching can't be blamed for the Reds' troubles right now. The offense has been flopping over the past four series. The Reds have struggled picking up AL pitching, as the team is now 6-9 on the year against AL opponents. Zack Cozart is two for his last nineteen, and Brandon Phillips is five for his last twenty-one. The top of the lineup needs to start hitting and getting on base so the Reds can generate more runs. Luckily for the Reds, they have only one series left against the AL against Oakland on August 6-7.

-A sweep of the last place Brewers could go a long way for this team. If the Reds can win three in Milwaukee, that puts them at fifteen games over .500 heading into a clash with the first place Braves. The Reds would then hope to take two of four in that series, and head into the break with one of the best records in the majors.

-The Reds will have two starters in the All Star Game for the NL roster in Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Phillips is getting his first start in his third appearance, and I could see him batting second on Bruce Bochy's lineup card. Votto is an experienced starter in the All Star Game, but he is hitless in his seven prior at bats in the game. Aroldis Chapman will make the team in back to back seasons and should be a nice weapon for the NL to use late in the game. Shin-Soo Choo and Jay Bruce could be considered snubs because they weren't elected to represent the Reds in the game, but with Choo's recent dip in batting average and Bruce's inconsistency at the plate, an appearance just wasn't in the cards. According to Bochy, Homer Bailey and Mat Latos were under heavy consideration for spots on the team as well.

-The second hitter in the lineup is costing the Reds a great deal of runs. Zack Cozart has found himself in a lot of favorable scoring opportunities throughout the season and hasn't been able to capitalize and extend those opportunities by getting on base or driving in runs. He has just nine RBI's and is hitting .216 in the last thirty days. The easiest solution is to move Votto up a spot in the order and shift Phillips to the third spot and Bruce to cleanup in the order. However, it is highly unlikely for Baker to move Votto, the best hitter on the roster, out of the third spot. Xavier Paul and Derrick Robinson are solid contact hitters with OBP's above .330, so another possibility is to platoon the two left fielders in the two hole.

Rich Hidy
Cincy Sports Spot