20 responses so far ↓

• 1 Kevin // May 15, 2008 at 7:57 am

  Single short of the cycle for Bruce. I’m more impressed with the two walks in his first two at bats.

  In his last 10 games, he’s got 7Ks and 5BBs. That’s a real good sign. He’s also .611/.659/1.139 over that span.

  It won’t be long now.

• 2 Scott // May 15, 2008 at 8:47 am

  In an interview after the game, he said he was more proud of the walks too.

• 3 Jeff Gentil // May 15, 2008 at 9:27 am

  Boy, it’s a shame Jay Bruce can’t play the game. I mean the guy can’t get a single? Not so sure about this kid.

  Seriously, what more does he have to do? Are they REALLY waiting until he takes more walks???? The .366 average isn’t good enough? It’s higher than Freel and Patterson’s OBPs.

• 4 Doug Gray // May 15, 2008 at 10:14 am

  Jeff,
  Seriously, its like the Reds are waiting until Dunn or Griffey are traded. I would not be surprised at all if the Reds didn’t bring Bruce up until one of those guys are traded.

• 5 Kyle // May 15, 2008 at 10:24 am

  I sure hope the Reds aren’t just trying to delay Bruce’s arbitration clock. The bottom line is that Bruce would improve the big league club right now. He is an impact bat, and Freel and Patterson just aren’t. Leadoff or not, you get your best bats in the lineup.
  Ben Jukich is having an encouraging run in Chattanooga. Does he have a shot at becoming a back of the rotation guy?
  Hopefully Stubbs is coming out of his slump.

• 6 Doug Gray // May 15, 2008 at 10:41 am

  I think the Reds are doing two things…. waiting until Dunn/Griffey are traded to open a spot for him. They are also trying to delay him from being a super 2.

  Jukich has a very small shot at being a BOR guy. He has a very good curveball, but I am not sure if he has ever hit 89 MPH with a fastball.

• 7 Jeff Gentil // May 15, 2008 at 11:45 am

  Doug, do you see Jay as a CF? I have never seen him play, but I always thought they were really grooming him for RF. What do you think he’s really fit for?

• 8 Kevin // May 15, 2008 at 12:02 pm

  Being a Durham, NC resident, I followed the Evan Longoria super-2 thing earlier this year, and I thought that basically he’d need to wait out only a handful of games to bypass the super-2 designation. I know the rules are very confusing, but I’m pretty sure Bruce has passed the super-2 date. Anyone know for sure?

  I suspect the real reason Bruce hasn’t been called up yet is that if Dusty has one more lefty in his lineup, his head will explode when he tries to make the batting order.

  I actually am very happy that Bruce has had to show he can take a walk before he makes it to the bigs. Bad habits are easier to break in AAA than in the bright spotlight of the Majors. But even thought its a small sample, I think he’s proven it and am now on the call-up bandwagon.

• 9 Doug Gray // May 15, 2008 at 12:03 pm

  I think he could play an average to slightly above average CF right now, but eventually he will move to RF. He reads the ball well off the bat, which is big. He is fast, but not a blazing fast guy so its why I see him eventually moving off the position. I figure though that he doesn’t spend much time there with the Reds, as he will replace Griffey in RF pretty soon.

• 10 Doug Gray // May 15, 2008 at 12:05 pm

  Kevin,
  The Super 2 date isn’t set until after the season. Generally it falls between May 12th and May 20th each year, but sometimes has been a little earlier and a little later. Longoria didn’t pass the Super 2 date, he just passed the date so that he would be under control for that extra year…. not that it mattered once they signed him to that deal.

• 11 Kevin // May 15, 2008 at 12:34 pm

  Right you are, I was confusing the two. Ryan Braun was called up last year on May 24th. He would probably be the most similar guy to compare Bruce to from last year. So we’re looking at Memorial Day weekend.

  Doug, seeing as the general consensus is that Griffey heads back to the Mariners in a trade, you got any feeling of which prospects coming back from Seattle would make the most sense?

• 12 Doug Gray // May 15, 2008 at 12:57 pm

  Honestly, it depends on if and how much money we send their way. The range of that money could have a lot to do with what type of prospect would come back. If its none, then I wouldn’t be surprised by a 23 or 24 year old in High A or AA with his head above water but not really a prospect at all.

• 13 Ron // May 15, 2008 at 3:08 pm

  Hey Doug, How do you feel about the Reds trading for a guy like Hessman from Detriot’s AAA team? The guy is 30 years old, right handed, and can play either corner IF spots. He would seem to be the kind of guy with pop we could use. As a non prospect, it wouldnt seem like he would require much compensation in a trade. Oh, and by the way, he is absolutely mashing the ball. Thoughts?

• 14 Doug Gray // May 15, 2008 at 3:42 pm

  Honestly, I don’t know what kind of scouting report the guy has. There is a reason he is in AAA. Whether he can’t hit breaking balls or can’t hit fastballs, I don’t know…. but I wouldn’t think about carrying him on the roster. The Reds need left handed pop more than they do right handed pop…. against lefties this year the Reds have a team .818 OPS. Against the right handers this year the Reds have a team .723 OPS.

• 15 Kyle // May 15, 2008 at 3:55 pm

  Although Hessman’s numbers are eye popping im not convinced that he would do anymore in the big leagues than Andy Phillips. He hit .292 for the Yankees last year in a decent sample size. Ill bet he would hit alright if the Reds needed another right handed bat. I think they are alright in that department with Hairston, Encarnacion, and Phillips hitting well.

• 16 Ron // May 15, 2008 at 5:18 pm

  I was looking at him as more of a bench player … our low OPS against righties can be directly attributed to Jr & Dunn’s lack of production. At some point you have to ask yourself when is Walt going to move one of those two and get Bruce up here who not only is killing the ball but is very successful against Lefties. Id’ be ok with Phillips too … having Patterson on this team is a real dilemma and a waste of roster space for a RH bench bat with some pop. Phillips or Hessman would be a much better option than what we have now.

• 17 Kyle // May 15, 2008 at 5:58 pm

  We can’t forget that Hopper will be back eventually as well, although he isn’t going to provide much punch. It would be ideal if he took Patterson’s roster spot. Im not sure who would get sent down for Bruce. Carrying three catchers doesn’t seem practical anymore.

• 18 Ron // May 16, 2008 at 1:22 pm

  Yeah, Hopper = Freel IMO … they both fill the same roll although Ryan has the added bonus of being able to play IF. But they add no pop off the bench. We need a AAAA slugger. Javy has become almost non existant on this team. 3-5 pinch hit ABs a week … I cant remember the last time he started. Ross has decent pop but rarely succeeds in a PH role either. I dunno … I have to say … nothing gets done without a trade of Jr or Dunn … until then … we are going to be caught in this mediocre holding pattern.

• 19 Doug Gray // May 16, 2008 at 1:34 pm

  Ron,
  Don’t say much about Javy not starting…. he was scheduled to start at 1B and bat 6th yesterday. Thankfully that ridiculous move was rained out.

• 20 Ron // May 16, 2008 at 2:36 pm

  Wow, didnt see that line up … I agree … Votto hits lefties as a left hander tons better than Javy does as a righty. I get the feeling Dusty is getting desparate or his penchant of not wanting younger players out there everyday is beginning to emerge again.

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