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Reds are blue Cincinnati fails to utilize the advantages of a new parkPosted: Wednesday April 23, 2003 2:07 PM
Click here to send a question to Tom Verducci's Mailbag. Why does the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati already seem like just another stadium? It has more to do with the team playing in it than the facility itself. The Reds, coming off a 78-win season, playing without their franchise player and crossing their fingers on yet another patchwork pitching staff, aren't getting that full jolt of excitement expected from a new venue. At least one of the 'bag's faithful readers knows just where to put the blame: right at the top. Everyone wants to blame the Reds' problems on Ken Griffey Jr. or GM Jim Bowden, but the real problem is the very rich owner. Carl Lindner despite getting a new stadium at no cost to him, refuses to spend a nickel of his own money to improve the club. He won't pay for an actual major league pitcher and we fans have to suffer with the current collection of rejects in the rotation. On top of this, Lindner still wants to cut payroll, citing the old "small market" excuse. Any chance Lindner might sell the team to an owner who has a clue, or must we continue to watch as a once-proud franchise becomes a joke?
I understand your frustration. I believe the Reds have missed a once-in-a-few-generations opportunity by not putting the best possible team into their new stadium. They've killed the honeymoon before it began. Spending money on pitching in the short term would have been a valuable investment to maximize the excitement and goodwill of a new ballpark. I haven't heard any buzz about Lindner selling the team. Is it my imagination or is Mark Buerhle struggling to retain his title of White Sox ace? Also, why haven't the Sox sent Sandy Alomar packing so they can go with a catching platoon of Miguel Olivo and Josh Paul? Wouldn't that be the sensible thing to do? And how much longer do we have to put up with Jose Valentin's below-average defense?
I think Buerhle is fine. The left-hander is another Andy Pettitte, a guy who racks up wins without being a prototypical No. 1 -- something Bartolo Colon is. I share your concerns about the White Sox defense up the middle. Alomar is there to provide leadership and a clubhouse presence, which I think is valuable, especially with young pitchers around, so I don't think he'll be shipped. I don't see Chicago moving Valentin, either. It's not as if the Sox didn't know his shortcomings on defense. Chicago can't come close to the Twins' pitching and defense, and I don't think the White Sox offense is overwhelming enough to make up the difference in those two areas. I'm a White Sox fan. I know you predicted they would be a disappointing team this year but they seem to be getting excellent starting pitching, so the last laugh might be on you. My question is: What's wrong with Billy Koch? One day he's virtually unhittable; the next day he's throwing a mid-90's fastball with absolutely no movement that gets crushed. Why is he so up and down? Also, can Esteban Loazia keep up his strong pitching for an entire season? He's been untouchable so far this year.
One reason to be concerned about Koch is the amount of work Art Howe gave him in Oakland last year. Put to work five days in a row, leading the league in games, used often in the eighth inning ... that's not the way closers are typically handled. Koch, though, has a bulldog mentality and never backs off when asked to take the ball. One other observation: The 28-year-old right-hander loves going after hitters. Sometimes this works against him, especially when he's in a jam. Sometimes he'll try to throw even harder and his ball tends to straighten out. But you can't question Koch's desire to be on the mound in a big spot. Loaiza has been a real find, the kind of mid-level pitcher every team brings in and hopes will be a hit. He's started well before with Toronto, so I think the jury is still out as to whether he can continue like this over five more months.
With the Mets struggling so badly, is Steve Phillips' job on the line? Absolutely. Remember, the GM is not signed beyond this year and New York has already rid itself of Bobby Valentine as a source of blame, so Phillips is the logical next target. Fred Wilpon is spending more money on this team than any other NL owner. He has a right to expect a serious contender for $120 million. Phillips is likely to go if that doesn't happen. If the Expos make the playoffs, where would their home playoff games be played?
Every Montreal home postseason game will be held in that beautiful cathedral of charm and splendor, Olympic Stadium. So far, Johan Santana has carried his 2002 success into this season. His strikeout-to-walk ratio and opponents batting average against are excellent again to this point. Is it possible that the Twins' long reliever is their best pitcher? Should Minnesota try to get him more valuable innings?
Should any of the Twins' starting five go down, Santana should immediately go into the rotation. I'm not so sure the 24-year-old left-hander shouldn't already be there in place of Rick Reed, who sometimes seems a misfit for the American League and the Metrodome. I'm stunned at how poorly the Detroit Tigers have played. I've never seen a non-expansion team with so little talent. Just how awful do you think this team will be this season, and is there any hope for the next few years? Detroit isn't a small market like Milwaukee, Pittsburgh or Kansas City, so I don't buy that excuse.
I think the Tigers will have trouble winning 50 games. What will happen when Detroit's young pitchers begin to wear down from the strain of the innings and lack of run support? What's with these "magic numbers" on pitch counts? Today's kids are supposed to be bigger, stronger, etc., yet they can't throw half as many pitches as their predecessors threw? I don't get it. I'd be willing to bet that Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux would each have 20-25 more career wins if Bobby Cox hadn't taken them out of games they were winning because he was worried about their pitch counts. Baseball has created its own problem and it's idiotic that a manager should be on the hot seat because young pitchers can't go nine any more.
I agree with a lot of what you wrote. But you should know that Cox allows Maddux to take himself out. Maddux is honest with the skipper and often before he hits 100 pitches tells Cox that he's cooked. Baseball needs a manager and/or a young pitcher to emerge who will defy the handcuffs of pitch counts and begin to reverse this trend of starters lasting fewer and fewer pitches. I don't see that happening any time soon, not when the kid-glove treatment of minor leaguers is perpetuating this trend. I think we all can agree that Mike Piazza is a terrible defensive catcher. But does anyone really believe that if he were to switch positions he wouldn't immediately become the worst first baseman in baseball? Watch him long enough and you can see that he possesses no athletic skills except for the uncanny ability to pound a baseball. How long do the Mets suffer with him behind the plate? Doesn't he have DH written all over him?
Actually, yes. I remember talking to Valentine once about how Piazza has such great hands as a hitter. I mentioned that he must be a good athlete and succeed in things such as darts and ping pong because of the natural "feel" in his hands. Valentine completely disagreed, saying Piazza isn't a great athlete. It is entirely possible that the 10-time All-Star might be a poor first baseman, but how would you rate Mo Vaughn with a glove? Robert Fick? Jeff Liefer? Randall Simon? Fred McGriff? Piazza wouldn't be the first guy to play there because of his bat. What's the matter with baseball players? It seems every time they get hit with a pitch they have to at least glare at the pitcher, make threatening gestures with their hands, and say a few choice words. Just last week Danny Batista (the fearsome slugger with 47 career home runs) acted as if he was going to toss his bat at the pitcher after he got hit. And mind you, the count was 1-2, so there was no intent. Why do you think batters make such a big deal about getting hit?
There are two reasons. First, very few pitchers command the inside of the plate. So, on the rare occasions when somebody comes in, hitters take it personally. Second, these incidents are shown repeatedly on highlight shows. It's become part of the game's culture for hitters to overreact to inside pitches because they see guys doing just that over and over again on TV. Also, as Joe Torre has said, today's hitters have no game awareness when it comes to inside pitches -- when a pitch comes inside, they don't weigh the situation, so they don't differentiate between a purpose pitch and one that just got away. I think Arizona's problem this season is Bob Brenly. Specifically, his horrible problem of messing with the lineup every day. Even the consistent starters are bounced around the order. How can players be expected to prepare properly when they don't even know which position they'll play or where they'll bat in the lineup? This tinkering is screwing up the Diamondbacks' infield defense, and their dismal hitting can be traced to this as well. Why not just put your best eight players on the field and see what they can do?
I've always thought it best to settle on a main lineup and run with it for a while, even if the initial results aren't great. Bullpen roles and lineup spots need to "settle," and not be subjected to constant tinkering. It may be too early to tell if Brenly is shaking things up too much. But I do know that a lot of scouts thought he would miss Bob Melvin a lot this year. His former bench coach was very influential in the handling of the lineup and in running games. Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers baseball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send a question to his Mailbag.
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