Meanwhile, people like those at Stats, Inc. keep breaking their pencil points trying to figure this one out and all they can come up with is the cliché, "Go figure."

What a bunch of geeks

To that manager Dusty Baker bristled and said, “When Joey Votto is ready Joey Votto is back in the lineup. We need him. We’re a good team without him, obviously we’ve shown that, but we’re a better team with him. What will we do with Frazier when Votto comes back. We’ll figure that one out when we have to figure it out.”

Dusty gets it.

To that manager Dusty Baker bristled and said, “When Joey Votto is ready Joey Votto is back in the lineup. We need him. We’re a good team without him, obviously we’ve shown that, but we’re a better team with him. What will we do with Frazier when Votto comes back. We’ll figure that one out when we have to figure it out.

Translation: Scott Rolen is still starting.

I don't understand the question. If Votto is the best player in the league, then its impossible for the Red's to be a better team without him as nobody can replace him fully. If the writer means "how can the Reds be playing better without Votto?" then I would suggest that he is an idiot.

Translation: Scott Rolen is still starting.

I thought the translation would be "with baseball players, most especially Scott Rolen, constantly getting injured, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, after all Frazier has played in 90 out of 117 games so far, I manage to get him into the game and my team is in first place by 7 games, so I think it's working."

I'll bet dollars to donuts the "radio guy" was joking.

But, yes, the Reds through July 15 were hitting 249/315/417; since they have hit 268/330/448. The solution here is obvious -- Votto plus $100 M to the Cubs for ...

at the all star break didnt a lot of people think of them as somewhat inconsistent but in the midst of a hot streak? If you look at their games all year long, they had some losing streaks in the early part of the year but then they seemed to really hit a stride before the break so it seemed maybe they werent consistent. So I guess now they're really good.

what's their team BABIP say for the last two months, just out of curiousity?

I thought the translation would be "with baseball players, most especially Scott Rolen, constantly getting injured, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, after all Frazier has played in 90 out of 117 games so far, I manage to get him into the game and my team is in first place by 7 games, so I think it's working."

I hope so. Having an "extra" hitter like Frazier can be a big asset for a team in a pennant/division race. I do wonder how many PA Frazier will get in September if Votto/Rolen are completely healthy.

Rolen has been hitting the ball a lot better since he came off the DL in June, and has looked practically spry over the last 2-3 weeks.

I do wonder how many PA Frazier will get in September if Votto/Rolen are completely healthy.

I think we call that a nice problem to have. :-)

It is interesting as Ludwick has been hot and raised his OPS+ to 130. With Rolen, Frazier and Ludwick all RHB, there aren't a lot of platoon-y opportunities to get Frazier into the lineup. But Dusty has always been big on playing his bench and good at giving his ancient guys a lot of rest. So I wouldn't expect Rolen to start more than 5 days a week. Dusty did recently give him 8 stratight games -- and Rolen needed a week off. Throw in a LF start and a day off for Bruce or a still-recovering Votta against a tough leftie and Frazier will get some PAs. Unless Dusty just doesn't want any part of Frazier in the OF -- which Dusty has been a stickler on in the past so it's possible.

So I wouldn't expect Rolen to start more than 5 days a week. Dusty did recently give him 8 stratight games

Rolen is known as a guy who is willing to rest for the betterment of his own health and the team.......(note, I need an emoticon to express the extreme dripping sarcasm in that commnt)

Even the good folks at Stats, Inc., where numbers are their first name, middle name and last name, couldn’t fathom what is going on in the Cincinnati baseball world.

Yeah, I'm sure they're stumped.

And I'm really sure they are making the intern answer the phone the next time 'Hal McCoy' pops up on the caller ID.

Do the Reds have any crazy flyball starter? They could start Frazier at SS behind him and give Todd one start a week for Ludwick, Rolen and Bruce.

Do the Reds have any crazy flyball starter?

Would you want to be a flyball pitcher in that stadium?

The Reds have been cleaning up on bad teams this year. They're 45-22 in those games. A nice swatch of those have occurred in the time frame since Votto went down. They are 17-5 against < .500 teams since July 16th (actually, 17-6 after tonight). That's 22 out of 29 games (update: 23 out of 30) against the lower end of the league during Votto's absence.

It is interesting as Ludwick has been hot and raised his OPS+ to 130. With Rolen, Frazier and Ludwick all RHB, there aren't a lot of platoon-y opportunities to get Frazier into the lineup. But Dusty has always been big on playing his bench and good at giving his ancient guys a lot of rest. So I wouldn't expect Rolen to start more than 5 days a week. Dusty did recently give him 8 stratight games -- and Rolen needed a week off.

That's Dusty's mo. In 2010 the Reds lived off of a fantastic bench and it seemed Dusty was pushing all the right buttons. Rolen was basically a 5 day a week a player that year, and really can't be expected to be more than that now. Dusty loves to get everyone involved, to the point where he probably costs the team a game or two during the season by going with a glorified split squad lineup too many times. But at the same time, he's been able to squeeze out solid performances from unlikely people and not over expose and over use someone like Ryan Hannigan. Aside from Votto, everyone gets plenty of rest.

Do the Reds have any crazy flyball starter? They could start Frazier at SS behind him and give Todd one start a week for Ludwick, Rolen and Bruce.

I don't have the #s in front of me, and I'm too tired to go querying; but outside of the backend of the pen, all the Reds pitchers give up a lot of contact. I would assume the starters as a whole are average or below average in the NL in terms of strikeout rate. I would probably classify all the starters but Cueto as flyball pitchers, with Arroyo being the extreme case. The team relies heavily on defense. I would be hesitant to disrupt that defense too much, even in a 1 game scenario, by removing Cozart from SS. The 40-50 OPS+ upgrade would be fun, but I think overall it would be a weaker team taking the field, even if Arroyo was starting.

Is it really that much of an improvement when its been one or two more hits then they had averaged before? Its not like they raised thrre average by fifty points

Hal's work is just sad. It's like an emoticon still in code form.