Joey Votto

y Manuel made a questionable move last night when he chose to have Aaron Heilman intentionally walk Joey Votto after Edwin Encarnacion's two-out double in the seventh.  Putting the potential go-ahead run on base intentionally is clearly a move that goes against the book, and it is often difficult for a reliever to find his rhythm again after issuing an intentional pass.  Case in point:  Heilman walked the next batter on five pitches to load the bases.  Then, also questionable was Manuel's decision to pull Heilman in favor of Schoenweis.  I rarely think it's a good idea to bring a pitcher in with the bases loaded, but it made sense because Javier Valentin, the would-be pinch hitter, is not as productive from the right side of the plate.  The moves ended up not working out, as Valentin delivered the three-run double, but they didn't get much scrutiny because the Mets won the game.  These are the types of situations that get managers fired; if this type of move didn't work out for Willie Randolph and the team ended up losing the game, he would have been one step closer to the unemployment line, whereas if it worked out for Jerry Manuel, he would be venerated as the next John McGraw.

Continue reading "David Wright Bails Out Poor Pitching, ..."

It was like pulling teeth for him to finally grant Joey Votto--the Reds' other uberprospect--the first-base job at the start of the season, and all Joey's done is hit .294/.362/.544 since then. Still, even the stubborn Baker had to see that a centerfield consisting of Corey "At Least I Run Fast" Patterson and Ryan "Demolition Derby" Freel wasn't going to cut it. (About the only nice thing about putting Freel in center is that it gives him fewer walls to smack into).

Continue reading "Cincinnati's Youth Movement"