Reds 4/12....

Nice game last night overall for the team.  Not many hits but some guys came up big.  Hernandez made three huge plays in the field to save innings.  Of course Heisey had a huge homer and a big run saving catch in the first inning.  I don't know who you take out to get Heisey playing time, and I'm not sure you take anyone out, but I know when he is in the lineup, I feel good about it. 

Volquez with a very nice outing.  If you look at his overall stats, 2 runs, 6 innings, 7 baserunners, 5 K's, nice game.  If you saw his first inning and only wanted to comment on that, you would think oh no, here we go again.  Look, during the inning, Twitter and Facebook were going crazy with people complaining and making ridiculous claims.  HE IS SUCH A BAD PITCHER, was one.  How many more starts can you give this guy?, was another.  Here we go again, I read a few times.  Cmon now, it's a nine inning game, please understand that.  I wasn't happy with the start either, but if what we want is improvement then we got it.  He gave up 3 runs in the first in game one, then 4 runs, and this time it was only 2.  So we should be happy right?  Also, Volquez is going to get 30 starts if he stays healthy.  The guy has such good stuff, there is no way you take him out of the rotation.  To even think that is assinine.  He's 2-0 and the team is 3-0 with him on the hill.  Do I hope he does better?  Absolutely, but I'm not about to be worried about him, not yet, not even close.

Another complaint I have about the Volquez haters is that he is making 1.5 million dollars people.  With Cueto, he is only the third highest paid starter on the team.  Ya he was given the Opening Day start but it isn't like he is being paid as a top 5 pitcher in the majors or anything.  Maybe we should all lower our expectations and let the season roll on like normal.

The more I listen to some fans, I just think that some people just aren't cut out to be baseball fans.  Baseball has more ups and downs than any sport, period.  It's a marathon.  People that get all excited about one at bat, one pitch, one play in the field, maybe just aren't meant to be baseball fans.  That doesn't mean they shouldn't follow the sport, but they should stop overreacting or it's going to be a very very long season.  One bad quarter in a football game could kill your whole season, especially in college football.  But one bad start in a baseball game only affects less than 1% of your season, seems miniscule but its true.

Ok, off the tangent that I thought up last night.  As I was saying, good win for the Reds last night.  Tough one tonight although they face Richard who they hit pretty good last time they faced him.  LeCure is on the hill for the Reds.  Sammy doesn't strike fear into any opponents but he is a battler and he'll make good pitches and keep the Reds in the game.  That's all you can ask from your number five starter.  We'll take two out of three in this series and feel happy.  But that means we could lose one out of the next two, so when we do, let's not all freak out, ok "fans"?

Two game lead in the division, still have a chance to go wire to wire.  One game at a time.  Til next time....

Curt