Wednesday, May 07th, 2008 | Author: Doug Gray
Louisville won 8-4. Box Score
- Jolbert Cabrera went 2-4 with a double, 2 runs and an RBI.
- Jay Bruce went 4-5 with a double and 2 runs.
- Andy Phillips went 2-4 with a HR (2), walk, 2 runs and 4 RBI.
- Kevin Barker went 1-5 with a HR (5) and 3 RBI.
- Paul Janish went 2-4 with a walk.
- Matt Maloney allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and no walks in 7 innings and he struck out 2.
Chattanooga lost 15-7. Box Score
- Shaun Cumberland went 1-4 with a run and a walk.
- Drew Anderson went 1-4 with a walk.
- Michael Griffin went 2-5 with a run and an RBI.
- Tonys Gutierrez went 2-4 with 2 runs.
- Jerry Gil went 1-4 with a HR (2) and 3 RBI.
- Tonys Gutierrez went 2-4 with 2 runs.
- Craig Tatum went 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI.
- Daryl Thompson went 1-2 with a double at the plate. On the mound he allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings. He struck out 2 as his ERA skyrocketed to 1.45 on the year.
- Robert Manuel extended unearned run streak to 20.2 innings this season.
Sarasota won 5-1. Box Score
- Chris Heisey went 1-4 with a run and an RBI.
- Michael DeJesus went 3-4 with a double, run and an RBI.
- Juan Francisco went 1-4 with a 2 run HR (6).
- Drew Stubbs went 1-4.
- Jason Louwsma went 2-4 with an RBI.
- Carson Kainer went 1-4 with a run.
- Rafael Gonzalez allowed 4 hits and a walk in 5 shutout innings and he struck out 4.
- Logan Ondrusek allowed a hit in 2 shutout innings.
Dayton was canceled. It will not be made up.
Category: 2008 Game Review
Thursday, 8. May 2008
This is majors related, so off-topic sort of, but has far reaching consequences for Reds pitching development in general:
Volquez pitched 118 pitches yesterday. Did he need to? No. The Reds were up 9-0 at the start of the 7th inning. Dusty brought him out even though he had 94 pitches at that point. He needed 24 to get out of the inning, bringing him up to 118. This is asinine. It’s the 2nd time already this year that Volquez’s pitched over 110 pitches in a game. Volquez is not Harang. He’s not 6′7 275 and can take this type of toll, he’s 6 feet 190. I just can’t fathom Baker’s thought process on this.
Thursday, 8. May 2008
I agree that 120 is a little excessive, but if im playing devil advocate id like to point out the possibility that Volquez will have an extra day of rest before his next start. As long as this kind of outing doesn’t become habitual, im okay with it. The Reds also dont need to be as protective with him as they do Cueto and Bailey.
Rafael Gonzalez and Matt Maloney both had encouraging outings. Baseball America mentioned in a chat last year that Gonzalez doesn’t have the plus stuff that he used to because of his lack of conditioning the previous years. His success was apparently the result of an attitude change. Do you think he still has a chance to make it as a back of the rotation starter?
Thursday, 8. May 2008
Have to agree in principle with Kyle, regarding Voltron’s pitchcount. There was no compelling reason to leave him out there for the extra inning, but as long as it’s not a harbinger of things to come (ride the young high-performer hard, like, say, Prior) I’m not too worked up about it. It’s easily forgotten that the guy is not a rookie, and is a couple years older than Cueto. His arm is a bit more tested.
I saw Will Carroll write a couple weeks ago that he had a theory that a pitcher who had a consistent release point but nevertheless exhibited a lack of command was showing early signs of needing Tommy John surgery. He brought this up, ominously, in regard to Cueto…that was before his last start, though. And it is only a theory.
Thursday, 8. May 2008
I agree. There was no reason for Volquez to throw that many pitches in a 9-0 game. The fact that he did in such a blowout demonstrates that Dusty Baker just simply doesn’t understand. Its a real scary feeling. Brandon Webb has yet to throw 105 pitches in a game this year and has not made it past 6 innings in half of his starts. Smart teams get it. Dumb teams hire Dusty Baker.
I think Gonzalez has a chance. He is still young and in the past he has had plus stuff and has not had an injury. That to me would suggest it could return. Maloney on the other side just had a lucky game, while most of the others this year have been very unlucky.
As for Carroll’s little theory, time will tell. I think he is overthinking it a little bit.
Thursday, 8. May 2008
Baseball America just posted a nice feature article about Cueto and Volquez on their website. It’s a good read.
With their hot starts, do you think that Herrera, Geronimo, and Manuel could find themselves in the back end of the top 40? Have you heard much about Denis Phipps this year? Im curious if he is starting to put things together and maybe be a top ten prospect.
Friday, 9. May 2008
The one problem I have with pitch counts is trying to force something quantifiable into a discussion where the most important factors arent quantifiable. You would have to assume that he threw at least 25 pitches warming up and at least 10 of those were “full throttle”. Then say he throws 5 warm up pitches to start the inning and at least 3 are “full throttle”. That puts his pitch count at 150 compared to a hypothetical 135 (based on the 105 in game pitches) Can we honestly say that 135 pitches is ok and 150 pitches is bad. It seems to me that the real danger comes when pitchers continue to pitch after their arms are pretty well worn out. Mechanics go to hell, muscles are alredy tired and stretched and more susceptible to just tearing, and the pitcher may not fully recover for the next start. But I think this is different for every pitcher and to use a template of pitch counts to discuss everyone is missing the point to me. Don’t get me wrong I think that pitch counts are probably part of the solution but only in the way that they help you determine when the pitcher is sufficiently tired. Having said all that, there is no reason he should have been out there in the 7th with that lead, especially with on off day coming up. We may never know when the exact time to pull a pitcher is, but certainly the risk-reward in that game justified pulling him.