Hanigan's Blast Helps Reds Take Series From Rays

By:  Coop


The Reds were trying to win their 1st Interleague series of the year today against the Rays.  In order to do so they would have to beat a great pitcher in James Shields.  Shields had pitched back-to-back complete games, but today his streak ended.  Edinson Volquez was the better pitcher today, and Ryan Hanigan was the star of the game.  The Reds won it 4-3, here is how.


There was no score until the 4th.  With 2 on and 2 out, Ryan Hanigan came up to bat.  He delivered with a 3-run jack to left field, Hanny's 3rd homer of the season, it was 3-0 Reds.  That was Ryan's 1st home run since that 2-home run game back in early April against the Brewers.


Tampa Bay would get 2 runs in the 6th when Evan Longoria hit a 2 RBI double, Zobrist and Damon would score.  And oh yeah, Johnny Damon reached on a single.  What's so special about that?  Well he tied Ted Williams on the all-time hit list.  Congrats to Damon.


In the top of the 7th, Fred Lewis hit a 2-out double left, Jonny Gomes scored, the score was now 4-2.


B.J. Upton had not been a good hitter at home this year, and was 0-9 in the series, but in the Rays 7th, he went yard to left center.  His 12th long ball of the year, we were back to a 1-run game, 4-3.


That would remain the score going into the bottom of the 9th.  Francisco Cordero came in hoping to get save number 16.  He got Longoria to ground out for the 1st out.  Then gave up a single to Joyce, but then Kotchman grounded into a 6-3 game-endining double play.


So the Reds win the series against Tampa Bay, and now have a 6-10 record against AL teams this year.


Edinson Volquez pitched well, as he went 6.1 innings, gave up 3 earned runs, 4 hits, walked 3, and fanned 7. A nice outing for sure.  Edinson is now 5-3 this year.


If the Brewers lose today, the Reds will be only 2.5 games back.  Ryan Hanigan says "We're getting closer" and added that he thinks the Reds "are about to go on a run".  Let's hope he's right.


The Reds will enjoy an off day tomorrow, and then start a 3-game series with the in-state rivals, the Cleveland Indians.  The Reds will have to sweep just to tie for the Ohio Cup.  Game 1 will be on Thursday at 7:10 PM ET, you can catch the game on Fox Sports Ohio.

Cairo's Slam and Edinson's Arm Help Get the Job Done

By:  Coop


Edinson Volquez cut off his dreadlocks.  Must have helped.  He looked much better than his previous starts this season, and here is something shocking: he pitched a scoreless 1st inning.  He went 7 innings giving up just 1 run, he got the run support, as the bats gave him 8 runs, 4 of which came on 1 swing of the bat.  The Reds won it 8-2, here is how.


There was only 1 inning in which Edinson struggled, that was the 2nd.  But the good news is he only gave up 1 run.  That was when Blake DeWitt RBI double to plate Ramirez, 1-0 Cubs.


Cincinnati would answer back in the 3rd when Drew Stubbs hit an RBI double to bring Janish home, and the game was tied.  


In the 4th inning the Reds would take the lead when Ramon Hernandez hit a sac fly to plate Bruce, 2-1 the score.  Cincy never looked back.


The Reds added 2 in the 5th when Votto walked with the bases loaded, then Johnny Gomes hit a sac fly to right, the score was 4-1.


Then in the 7th inning, the runners occupied all 3 pillows, there was 1 out.  The last thing anyone really expected was a grand slam since Cairo isn't much of a power hitter.  But guess what?  He got a hold of one. HE HIT A GRAND SLAM! The close game was now a laugher, 8-1 the score.  That was Miguel's 2nd career grand salami. 


Jeremy Horst did give up a run in the 9th when Lou Montanez hit an RBI single, DeWitt slid in, just avoiding the tag, the score was 8-2, and that's how she finished. 


Edinson Volquez got the win, as he went 7 innings, gave up 1 run, on 7 hits, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts.  He is now 4-2 this season.


Milwaukee and St. Louis are both winning right now, if they both win nothing will change in the Central.  If the Cards lose and the Brewers win, then the Reds and Brewers gain a game.  If the Cardinals and Brew Crew both lose (hopefully they do), the Reds will pick up a game.


Yesterday the Reds won 8-2, today they win 8-2.  Will they tomorrow?  We'll have to find out at 12:35 PM ET.  Bronson Arroyo will climb the hill for Cincy, while Ryan Dempster will pitch for the Baby Bears.  You can catch the game on Fox Sports Ohio or MLB Network.  

Reds Win In 10!

Edgar Renteria came in as a pinch hitter in the 10th
inning, and delivered a walk off RBI single

By:  Coop


The Florida Marlins won yesterday, and the Reds looked pretty terrible until late in the game.  Well, today, the Reds looked terrible until late in the game too.  Last night, the Reds' 9th inning rally was not enough to win the game, but today, their 8th and 10th inning rallies were enough, they win it 4-3, here is how.


In the 1st inning, Omar Infante hit an RBI single to center, Coghlan scored, it was 1-0.  So Edinson Volquez gives up another 1st inning run.


In the 8th inning, Wes Helms hit an RBI double, two runs would score, it was 3-0 Fish.  Those two runs came off Aroldis Chapman by-the-way, his first two earned runs Chapman has given up this year.


In the Cincinnati 8th, there were two outs, and none on.  Then the Reds put together 5 strait hits, including a Jonny Gomes RBI single, a Miguel Cairo RBI single, and a Paul Janish RBI single.  Just like that the Reds tied the game up, 3-3 the score.


The game would remain tied until the 10th.  Brandon Phillips lead off the inning with a walk, followed by a Jonny Gomes walk.  Then Miguel Cairo laid down a bunt in front of the plate, the pitcher, Mike Dunn, threw it to 1st, and the throw forced the 1st baseman to come off the bag, Cairo would reach, the bases were loaded and no one was out.  A great situation for the Reds.  At-bat was Ramon Hernandez, they brought some outfielders in, so there were 6 infielders, including the pitcher, Ramon was looking to at least hit a fly ball to deep center, but instead he hit a grounder to short, Rameriaz would go home to get the force out.  The bases were still loaded though, but with 1 out.  Paul Janish was the batter now, and he popped one up!  Was it a sac fly to win the game?!  No, it was a little pop up to 1st, two gone.  Then Edgar Renteria came up as a pinch hitter, 1-2 was the count, and he hit one to left field, a BASE HIT, A RUN SCORES, AND THE REDS WIN! The former Marlin punishes his old team with a walk off single.  


The Reds are now over .500, 14-13 their record, and sit 2 games behind St. Louis for 1st place in the NL Central.


The Reds will not play until next month.  Or tomorrow, how ever you want to look at it.  Game time is set for 4:10 (later start due to the Flying Pig Marathon), the game will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.


For highlights of this game, click HERE

Series 5 Preview

By:  Cooper Ledford


The 8-4 Cincinnati Reds return home after a 3-3 road trip.  The Reds will be looking to win the next few series, but 1st they will need to beat a good Pittsburgh Pirates team.  Yes, that's right, I said a good Pittsburgh Pirates team.  With that, I will preview each and every game in the Reds 4-game series with the Pirates.


Game 1 (Friday, 7:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  The 1st game of the series looks like it'll be a good one.  Bronson Arroyo will take the hill for Cincinnati, while Charlie Morton will pitch for the Buccos. Both pitchers are undefeated, Arroyo is 2-0 while Morton is 1-0, and both are sporting a 2.08 ERA.  Let's first start with Bronson Arroyo.  He is 6-4 lifetime against the Pirates, and has done very well against the current Pittsburgh hitters.  There are 3 players who have at least 10 at-bats against him, Cedeno, Doumit, and Jones.  Cedeno has 23 at-bats against the hick-kicking righty, with a .217 average, and 1 home run.  So except for that long ball, Bronson has done well against him.  Jones is batting .182 in 11 at-bats, while Doumit has a .100 average in 10 at-bats.  Now onto Morton.  He is 1-4 lifetime against the team from Cincinnati, and has struggled with current Reds batters through out his career.  Jonny Gomes, Brandon Phillips, and Scott Rolen have the most at-bats against him, all with 13.  Gomes is batting .385, Phillips is batting .308, and Rolen has a great average at .462.  Hernandez, Phillips, Rolen, Stubbs, and Votto have all had multiple RBI's off of Charlie, while Bruce and Gomes have hit one.  The Reds should win this game.


Game 2 (Saturday 1:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  Okay, I underlined the 1:10 time because it is a Saturday game, on Saturday's the games usually start at 7:10.  Back to the game.  Edinson Volquez will be pitching for the Redlegs, while James McDonald will pitch for the Pirates.  As long as Volquez has a better 1st inning that he has in his other starts, and can go about 6 or more innings, and hold the Pirates under 4 runs or so, then the Reds should win.  Ryan Doumit is the only Pirate who has really given Volquez ant trouble, as he has had 13 at-bats against him, with a .385 average.  Okay, now onto McDonald.  No Red has had more than 3 at-bats against him, so no one really knows what he's got.  But he is a young pitcher, and the Reds should be able to take advantage of that, and win it.


Game 3 (Sunday, 1:10 PM ET, FS Ohio): Mike Leake will pitch for the Reds, while TBA will pitch for Pittsburgh.  Leake is 0-1 against the Pirates so far, and will look to go to 1-1.  That's about all I can do, since we don't know who will pitch for Pittsburgh.  Well, hopefully whoever pitches will lose, and the Reds will take the first 3 games of the series.


Game 4 (Monday 7:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  Kevin Correia will pitch for the Pirates, while TBA will pitch for the Reds.  Correia is 6-1 against the Reds lifetime, so very good against them.  Unless the Reds offense comes alive against him, and whoever pitches for the Reds does well, the Reds will lose.  Hopefully they win though.

Two Homers Lead Reds Past Padres

Reds OF, Chris Heisey, hit a two-run home
run in Cincy's 3-2 win over San Diego.

By:  Cooper Ledford


The Cincinnati Reds were coming off of a losing series in Arizona, and were looking to rebound in this series vs. San Diego.  It would be big if the Reds could take game 1.  In order to do so, Edinson Volquez would have to pitch better than he has in his first two starts, and the Reds top ranked offense would have to be able to get some runs off of San Diego's top ranked pitching staff.  Well, the Reds did not get very many runs, only 3, but it was enough for them to get the 3-2 win and go to 7-3, here is how.


San Diego got both of their runs in the 1st inning.  The 1st run came across when the bases were loaded, and Ryan Ludwick was hit by Edinson's pitch, 1-0.  The 2nd run was plated when Hawpe hit a sac fly to bring in Hudson, it was 2-0.  So Edinson Volquez's 1st inning struggles continue.


The score would remain 2-0 until the top of the 4th, when Jonny Gomes hit a 371 foot home run to left, a solo shot, his 3rd long one of the year, and the Reds were within a run.


Then in the 5th inning, with a man on, Chris Heisey hit a two-run home run, his 1st of the year, the Redlegs had a 3-2 lead.  


Edinson Volquez would last until the 6th inning, then in came Jordan Smith for 1.1 innings, Bill Bray for .2 innings, and Francisco Cordero for 1 inning, all of them scoreless innings, allowing the Reds to hold on for the win over the Padres.


Despite Edinson Volquez's shaky 1st, he was very good from then on out, as he went 6 innings, gave up only 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, and had 5 strikeouts, and earned the win.  He is now 2-0 on the year, but is lucky he is not 0-2.  


Next the Reds will send out Sam LeCure, while the Pads will send out Clayton Richard.  Game time is set for 10:05 PM ET, and will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=91ead217-02d2-422b-bf89-2d49dfb4c189" target="_new" title="">Reds roll over Padres</a>

Series 4 Preview

By:  Cooper Ledford


The Cincinnati Reds continue their road trip, as they go to San Diego, California, to take on the Padres.  The Reds are coming off of their first losing series, and look to rebound in this one.  With that, here is the series preview.


Game 1 (Monday, 10:05 PM ET, FS Ohio):  In the first game of the series, Edinson Volquez will pitch for the Reds, while Mat Latos will pitch for the Padres.  Let's talk about Edinson first.  Even though he has done pretty well against Padres batters through out his career, he has not done well this season.  On Opening Day he looked very poor, and in his last start allowed a 4 run 1st inning, but was lights out from there.  In order for him to go to 2-0, he will need to pitch much better.  Now let's talk about Mat Latos.  Only 4 Reds have faced him in their careers, all of them without a hit.  Latos has a 1-0 record lifetime against Cincinnati, but that means nothing.  The Reds have a good opportunity to take advantage of him, as he does not know how to approach them all that well.  Also, the Reds need to take advantage of Latos by making him work.  This is his first appearance of 2011, after he was on the DL for pain in his right shoulder.  If the Reds make him work, his shoulder will feel weaker, and will have to be taken out of the game sooner.


Game 2 (Tuesday, 10:05 PM ET, FS Ohio):  Sam LeCure will take the hill for Cincinnati, while Clayton Richard will take the hill for San Diego.  LeCure has only faced Rob Johnson and Ryan Ludwick in his career, Johnson has not hit off of him, while Ludwick has a .333 average in 3 at-bat's.  So LeCure has not faced many Padre hitters, and has never faced the Padres in his career.  As for Clayton Richard, he has faced plenty of Reds, and all of them have had success against him for the most part.  Cairo, Hanigan, and Bruce all have at least a .600 average against Richard, while Votto, Phillips, and Heisey all have a .500 average against him.  As long as LeCure can pitch well, as well as the bullpen, the Reds should be able to score some runs in this game and win it.


Game 3 (Wednesday, 6:35 PM ET, FS Ohio):  In the final game of the series, Travis Wood will pitch for the Redlegs, while Tim Stauffer will pitch for the Pads.  Only 5 Padre batters have faced Wood in their career, none of them having more than 4 at-bat's against him.  But let's forget about the stats for a second, and just talk about Travis Wood so far this season.  He was great in his fist start against Milwaukee, going deep into the game and only allowing 1 run.  Then, in his 2nd game against a much weaker Arizona team (sorry D-Backs), he did absolutly terrible.  His location was his bug issue, while he did not walk too many batters, he did allow quite a bit of hits, a home runs.  He needs to be better in this game if he wants to get the win.  Okay, now we will talk about Tim Stauffer.  Tim is 2-0 lifetime versus the Reds, but has not faced many current batters.  In-fact, he has only faced 8 Reds batters, none of them having more than 6 career at-bats.  


All-in-all, I think the Reds should win at least two games of this series.  The two they have the best chance of winning is the 2nd and 3rd game.  But, any of these games could go either way, be prepared to watch (well, if you stay up that late to watch them play) a fun and exciting series.

Series 2 Preview

By:  Cooper Ledford


After the Cincinnati Reds swept the Milwaukee Brewers to open the 2011 season, they look to stay undefeated for 3 more games.  If they are going to have a 6-0 record, they will need to sweep the winless Houston Astros.  So, with that, I will break down each game of the series.


Game 1 (Tuesday, 7:10 PM ET, FS OHIO):  Mike Leake will be on the hill for Cincinnati, while J.A. Happ will be pitching for the Astros.  Carlos Lee and Micheal Bourn have the most experience against Leake, as 9 at-bats with a .111 average, while Bourn 8 at-bats with a .375 average.  Also, Hunter Pence has 9 AB's and a .333 average.  I would have said that earlier in the paragraph, but I just saw that and am too lazy to move the location of that sentence.  Forget about the stats for a minute.  Mike Leake is only in the rotation because of Johnny Cueto going to the DL.  Mike Leake wants to be in the rotation all season, so he needs to get things off to a good start, have an impressive game tonight, so he has a better chance of staying in the rotation.  Okay, now let's talk about the Astros pitcher, J.A. Happ.  If you remember, he came to Houston from Philidelphia in the Roy Oswalt trade.  No Red has more than 3 at-bats against Happ, and Brandon Phillips has the most success against him, as he is 2-for-3 lifetime.  Here is a surprising fact, not even Scott Rolen has played against Happ.  J.A. is also dealing with a minor injury, as he has a strained right oblique, we'll see if that effects him in anyway tonight.


Game 2 (Wednesday, 7:10 PM ET, FS OHIO): In the 2nd game of the series, Edinson Volquez will be pitching for the Redlegs, while Nelson Figueroa will be on the hill for Houston.  Before we talk about stats, let's think about Edinson Volquez's performance on Opening Day.  Remember it?  It was terrible.  He looked like he was a AA pitcher.  He must get better by Wednesday if he wants to get a win, or even a quality start.  Now the Astros are not as good as the Brewers, but still, they are a Major League team, and anything can happen.  Okay, now let's go to stats.  Hunter Pence has the most experience against Edinson, as he had 14 at-bats.  In those 14 AB's, he has .214 average, not much to brag about.  Carlos Lee is hitless in 10 at-bats vs. Volquez, and in 9 at-bats, Micheal Bourn has a .111 average.  So, Edinson Volquez has been very good against the 'Stros throughout his career.  Now let's talk about Nelson Figueroa.  No Red has more than 4 at-bats against him.  Brandon Phillips has gone 2-for-4 in his career, with a--you guessed it, .500 average.  


Game 3 (Thursday, 12:35 PM ET, FS OHIO): Okay, in the final game of the series, the Reds will have Sam LeCure pitching, while Houston will have Brett Myers on the hill.  LeCure had a very solid spring, and has not had much experience against the Astros, or any team.  So, LeCure will just be trying to prove something, as he, like Leake, is trying to stay in the rotation.  Okay, Brett Myers, he has faced a ton of Reds in his career.  He has faced Edgar Renteria more than anyone else.  Edgar has 27 AB's against him, 2 homers, 4 RBI's, and a nice .481 average.  I bet Dusty makes him his starting SS for that game, huh?


Alright, so there you have it.  The game the Reds have the most chance of losing is the 3rd game, since Sam LeCure is not all that great (sorry Sam), while Brett Myers is a very good pitcher (you're welcome Brett).

Reds Win Opener Walk-Off Style

Ramon Hernandez and the Reds celebrate their Opening
Day win over the Brewers.

By: Cooper Ledford


The Cincinnati Reds were trying to win on Opening Day for the first time since 2007. At first, it looked like they had no chance, as they were down early, but Ramon Hernandez hit a walk-off three-run homer to give the Reds the win, 7-6, over the Milwaukee Brewers, here is how.


Edinson Volquez was the pitcher for the Reds, his first batter he faced was Rickie Weeks.  Guess what Weeks, did?  He hit a home run, 1-0 the score early on.  Now who is taller, Rickie Weeks or Carlos Gomez?  Well, they would go back-to-back to find out.  Yes, Gomez hit a homer too, it was 2-0 after the first two batters came to bat.  Looked pretty bad for Volquez.  But the scoring was not done yet, with Braun on 3rd, McGehee would hit a sac fly, 3-0 the score at the end of 1.

Ramon Hernandez celebrates after hitting a walk-off home
run on Opening Day.

The Reds would answer back a little bit in the bottom of the 1st.  Drew Stubbs, the lead-off hitter, hit a double, Brandon Phillips bunted him to 3rd, and then Joey Votto hit a sac fly to bring Drew in, that would  make it 3-1.  


The Brew Crew would get a run in the 2nd when Rickie Weeks hit an RBI double to plate Nieves, 4-1 the score.


That would be the score until the bottom of the 4th when Drew Stubbs hit a solo home run to shorten the lead to 2.


But, Milwaukee would get their 3-run lead back in the 5th when Ryan Braun hit a solo homer to make it 5-2. They would score again in the 7th when Casey McGehee came up to the plate, after a single + an Jonny Gomes error, and then a balk, McGehee hit an RBI single to bring in Braun, and the Brewers had their biggest lead of the game, 6-2.


Cincinnati would shorten that lead to 3 in their half of the 7th when the reigning NL MVP, Joey Votto, hit a solo home run, the score was 6-3.


There would be no scoring until the 9th, the Reds trailed by 4.  Brandon Phillips hit a single, that was followed by a Joey Votto walk, then came a crazy play in which Scott Rolen reached on a fielder's choice, and there you have it, the bases were loaded with no outs.  The batter, Jay Bruce.  We all remember how he hit that walk-off homer to clinch the NL Central, but could he hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Reds win again?  Nope, he was down on strikes.  Then came Jonny Gomes.  Gomes gave the Reds their first win of last season thanks to a walk-off home run, could he do it again?  Nope, but he did hit a sac fly to plate Phillips and make the score 6-4.  Then the catcher Ramon Hernandez came to bat.  There were two on and two outs, a homer would win it.  And guess what? RAMON HERNANDEZ HIT A WALK-OFF THREE-RUN HOME RUN TO GIVE THE REDS THE WIN "And this one belongs to the Reds!". Talk about an exciting finish!


While the Reds feel like winners, Edinson Volquez might not, as he pitched badly.  Volquez went 6 innings, gave up 7 hits, 5 runs, walked 2, and fanned 3.  Not what you want from your Opening Day starter.  He must get better.


Tomorrow the Reds will be off, as always, and will play again on Saturday at 7:10 PM ET.  Travis Wood will be the pitcher for Cincinnati, while Shaun Marcum will pitch for Milwaukee.  The game will be on Fox Sports Ohio.

Series 1 Preview

Watch Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, as the Reds
play host to the Milwaukee Brewers in what looks to be
a battle between the two best teams in the NL Central.

By:  Cooper Ledford


The Cincinnati Reds will take on the Milwaukee Brewers, tomorrow.  What's special about tomorrow? OPENING DAY!  In Cincinnati it is basically a holiday that nearly everyone celebrates.  From the Findley Market Parade to the actual game, people are getting in the baseball spirit and looking forward to the Reds season.  Now let's talk about the first series of the season, Reds vs Brewers.


Game 1 (Thursday, 2:10 PM ET, FS Ohio/Local 12): In game 1, Edinson Volquez will be pitching for Cincinnati, while Milwaukee will have Yovani Gallardo pitching.  It looks like this will be a great pitchers duel.  But for some Reds, they are looking forward to facing Yovani.  One of those players is Scott Rolen.  Rolen has a career average of .636 against Gallardo in 11 at-bats.  Jay Bruce has a .500 average on 8 at-bats, Brandon Phillips has a .412 average in 17 at-bats.  The highest average any Brewer has against Volquez is Rickie Weeks who has a .571 in 7 AB's.  Ryan Braun has faced him more than anyone else on the team, as he has 15 at-bats vs. Volquez, and a .333 average.  So the Reds have the offensive advantage.  But, there is still one thing most Reds fans are worried about, that is weather or not Edinson Volquez has fully recovered from Tommy John's Surgery.  He looked very shaky in his last starts of 2010, some looked good, but some were terrible.  In spring. Edinson did not look very good at all, as he had an ERA of 8.38, and walked 11 in only 9 2/3 innings.  He better look better than he did in Spring.


Game 2 (Saturday, 7:10 PM ET, FS Ohio): In game 2, the Reds will send out lefty, Travis Wood, while the Brew Crew will send out Shaun Marcum.  Wood looked very good last year, you would never know he was a rookie with the way he pitched last year.  I think Travis will be the next Cliff Lee one day, but for now, he will focus on the Brewers.  He has not really had much of a chance to do anything against the Brewers yet, the highest batting average anyone has in .200, that is Weeks, Braun, and McGehee, they each have only 5 at-bats against him.  So he has not really faced the Brewers much.  Now let's talk about Marcum, he has only faced 3 Reds batters, Edgar Renteria, Jonny Gomes, and Ramon Hernandez.  Edgar Renteria has some experience against him, as he has 7 AB's and a .571 average.  Hernandez has the most experience against Marcum, as he has seen him 19 times, but has not done too well, only a .158 average.  Jonny Gomes has 2 AB's against him, and a .000 average.  


Game 3 (Sunday, 1:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  Game 3 looks like a very good pitching match-up, as it is Bronson Arroyo pitching for Cincinnati, and Randy Wolf for Milwaukee.  Arroyo had a somewhat challenging Spring, as he was ill, and still is, but he showed no signs of it in his last Spring start, he looks like he will be fine and ready to go by Sunday.  In Arroyo's career versus the Brewers, he is 9-7 and has a 3.77 ERA, not that great, but not that bad.  Now on to Randy Wolf.  The veteran lefty has had his way with the Reds in his career, as he is 10-3 and has a 3.13 ERA.  Yeah, pretty nice.  Jonny Gomes has done very well against Wolf in his career, as he has a .625 average in 16 at-bats.  Jay Bruce has done well against him too, as he has a .438 average in 16 AB's, and 2 homers to go with it.  


So, there you have it, a Series 1 preview.  Looks like the Reds have more of an advantage.  The toughest game for them to win will be Opening Day, as Edinson Volquez may be a little....bad.  Hopefully he is fine, and pitches well.  GO REDS!

2011 Reds Batting Order And Rotation Predictions

By: Cooper Ledford


Here is my 2011 Reds Opening Day batting order with projected stats:


1. Drew Stubbs (.286, 21 HR, 85 RBI, 40 SB)
2. Brandon Phillips (.293, 24 HR, 91 RBI, 29 SB)
3. Joey Votto (.330, 37 HR, 119 RBI, 11 SB)
4. Scott Rolen (.300, 20 HR, 90 RBI, 2 SB)
5. Jay Bruce (.320, 32 HR, 100 RBI, 15 SB)
6. Jonny Gomes (.286, 25 HR, 89 RBI, 15 SB)
7. Ramon Hernandez (.300, 10 HR, 43 RBI, 1 SB)
8. Paul Janish (.290, 12 HR, 40 RBI, 19 SB)
9. Pitcher


Now here is my Projected Pitching Rotation:


1. Edinson Volquez (12-8, 3.12 ERA, 118 SO)
2. Bronson Arroyo (16-7, 2.94 ERA, 123 SO)
3. Johnny Cueto (14-9, 2.97 ERA, 129 SO) REPLACEMENT: Mike Leake (2-1, 1.22 ERA, 13 SO)
4. Travis Wood (12-5, 2.42 ERA, 119 SO)
5. Homer Bailey (13-9, 3.11 ERA, 110 SO) REPLACEMENT: Sam LeCure (1-2, 2.00 ERA, 12 SO)
   Starting season on DL            


Bullpen Strategy:
For 2+ innings: Mike Leake/Sam LaCure/Willis
6th inning: Willis
7th inning: Ondrusek/Smith
8th inning: Chapman/Ondrusek/Smith/Bray
9th inning: Cordero/Bray/Chapman

Volquez To Start On Opening Day

By:  Cooper Ledford

Much to his surprise, the 27-year-old Dominican pitcher, Edinson Volquez, was named Opening Day Starter, by manager Dusty Baker.  It was expected that Bronson Arroyo would be getting the ball for the 1st game of the season against the Brewers, but Dusty will put Volquez as the No. 1 starter, behind him is Arroyo, followed by Cueto.

"I thought Cueto might be it, or Bronson for No. 1," Volquez said. "They're giving me the opportunity to be No. 1 and I'm excited. It's an honor. ... It surprised me when they told me. Those two guys just signed big contracts. I signed for one year. Pitching the first day is unbelievable."


Last season, Edinson had just 12 starts, went 4-3 with a 4.31 ERA.  In his last full season, 2008, he won 17 games and was selected to appear in the All-Star Game.  


With Edinson as the Ace, Bronson the 2nd starter, and Cueto 3rd, there are still 2 more spots in the rotation which are still open.  Travis Wood, Homer Bailey, and Mike Leake will be competing for one of those spots this Spring in Goodyear, Arizona.