The big news of the off-day is “The Votto Watch,” as the Reds first baseman says he’s ready to play, per columnist Paul Daugherty (he lives!) of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Votto made the trip to Toronto and appears ready to be activated Tuesday. 

But not so fast?

The Reds have said all along that Votto returns when he says he’s ready. But no matter how desperate the team is to get him back on the field, the Reds would be justified in using caution. Twice already they thought Votto had overcome his inner ear infection that was causing dizziness and nausea. Twice everyone was wrong. Now, with the team in Votto’s hometown of Toronto for three games, is this the right time and place for Votto to get back into action?

Remember the media madness over him during the World Baseball Classic games played in Toronto this spring?

There’s still a lot more about the Votto situation to be answered than just the health of his bat and the state of his readiness. In the meantime, we all stand glued to “The Votto Watch.”

Fire the Manager! A Cleveland Plain Dealer poll reveals that 71 percent of Indians fans want manager Eric Wedge fired. This got me to thinking: If the Cincinnati Enquirer ran a similar poll about Dusty Baker, what would the percentage be? 

What to Do About Taveras? No, you cannot shoot him, but the subject of his playing time amid a horrendous slump is the lightning rod issue among Reds bloggers. It’s so akin to the Corey Patterson yap from a year ago that I’ve completely tuned out because the team’s offensive problems run deeper than Taveras and the leadoff spot.

Cleanup was the black hole all along, dating back to the offseason, but we don’t hear anyone complaining about the .253 average with 12 homers, 49 RBI and .441 slugging percentage from Reds No. 4 hitters. Or the even worse numbers at the 5-hole, mostly handled by Jay Bruce’s inability to get an RBI that isn’t produced by a home run, a la Adam Dunn Disease.

Instead, fans are focused on Taveras and to a lesser degree SS Alex Gonzalez’s offensive production before he went on the DL with bone chips in his elbow. Gonzalez’s defense has been so terrific and such an improvement over last year that his slow bat really hasn’t bothered me (or, likely, the pitching staff). But in tandem with the Reds’ overall offensive woes, I understand the haymakers to Taveras, specifically, and Gonzalez, in general.

To most fans, Taveras should be released. That’s stupid and not happening. This organization, and not many others, is going to eat $6.25 million in salary after 68 games. Fine, you say, then bat him No. 8. Maybe, but Taveras’ game is his wheels so what’s the point of his speed if the pitcher is batting after him?

Would you pull a Tony LaRussa and bat the pitcher 8 and Taveras 9?

Logic dictates that if Baker insists on playing Taveras–after all, you can’t get on track from the bench–it should be in a platoon with Chris Dickerson. This is where Baker’s stubbornness and provinciality drives everyone nuts. Just put Dickerson in center and leadoff against righties for a few series and see how things go.

But if Baker insists on Taveras being in the lineup and at the top of the order, why not flop him with Jerry Hairston for a few games? Hairston is a career .264/.334 batter as a leadoff and last year produced .362/.427 in the role in 202 plate appearances.

My thinking is the 2-slot should get Taveras more fastballs and better bunting lanes if Hairston is on base in front of him. But then, Hairston is batting just .179/.195 in 41 PAs as a leadoff this year. Meh. 

 

Best Reds Tee of the Season: Living in Washington, D.C., it’s not easy to find Reds gear without going online and having to pay shipping charges. So every once in a while I like to prowl eBay for good deals. Last night I found the above t-shirt to be exceptional in style and price. Yeah, call me prejudiced and you would be correct. Simple yet stated, it’s the kind of tee a mascot can wear of himself in public and no one will snicker. Mebbe. 

The Hardcore Truth: Each time someone wants to fire Dusty Baker over lineups and what they consider general ignorami, consider how difficult it has been replacing the production of injured 3b Edwin Encarnacion and 1b Joey Votto. It’s a miracle this team isn’t in last place. Lance McAllister of 1530Homer did the math, and, frankly, it’s uglier than catsup on a hot dog. The replacements at the two positions combined have provided just a .209 average, 7 homers, 32 RBI and 13 errors.

Here’s the breakdown for Reds starters at third and first base this season, minus Vot
to and Encarnacion:

Third Base

Rosales: 17-for-93 (.182 avg.), 2 homers, 9 RBI, 2 errors, 23 starts

Hairston: 21-for-96 (.219 avg.), 2 homers, 6 RBI, 7 errors, 24 starts

Janish: 1-for-2 (.500 avg.), 1 RBI, 1 start

Totals: 39-for-191 (.204 avg.), 4 homers, 16 RBI, 9 errors

First Base

Hernandez: 20-for-99 (.202 avg.), 3 homers, 16 RBI, 4 errors, 25 starts

Rosales: 7-for-26 (.269 avg.), no homers, 2 RBI, 7 starts

Totals 27-for-125 (.216) 3 hr, 16 rbi, 4 errors

Of course, Daedalus at Church of Baseball has the full story on why these guys can’t hit–the team optometrist. 

Don’t Line Up for Playoff Tickets Yet: Baseball Prospectus has an interesting feature I like to check from time to time–the odds of a team to make the postseason. This is updated by computer daily and is weighed by all sorts of factors and offers a percentage odds for every team of reaching the playoffs, wild-card and being world champions.

Here’s how the NL Central stacks up today (based on percentage chances):

WS WC PO

Cardinals 51.9         10.4 62.3

Brewers 17.1       8.5 25.7

Cubs 20.5         10.3 30.9

Reds 5.1 3.6 8.7

Astros 2.5 1.7 4.2

Pirates 2.5 1.9 4.4

We really didn’t need a computer to tell us the Reds’ chances but there it is, simple and ugly, despite the Reds being only four games from the lead. No one should be getting in line for playoff tickets yet, nor should they be making bets on the Reds in Vegas.

Reds Draft Recap: Speaking of Baseball Prospectus, the publication has offered its thumbnail looks at each team’s recent draft. Here’s what they had to say about the Reds and their top picks:

Selections–Round 1: (8) Mike Leake, RHP, Arizona State (photo, above); (43) Brad Boxberger, RHP, Southern California. Round 2: (57) Bill Hamilton, SS, Taylorsville HS (MS). Round 3: (88) Donnie Joseph, LHP, Houston.

Quick Take–There is some debate in the industry as to whether Leake was a signability pick or not since the Reds were kicking the tires on some of the high-priced high school arms before settling on Leake. Those that like him think he’s the next Tim Hudson, while those that don’t think he’s no more than a back-of-the-rotation type. Another Pac-10 star, Boxberger, was the Trojans’ Friday starter and he showed plus-stuff during most of the spring while struggling at times to throw strikes.

Hamilton was one of the draft’s best athletes, but he’s probably going to move to the outfield, and his power will always be a on the light side. Joseph excelled as a closer this year, with an above-average fastball/slider combination, but also some control issues.

Notable Later Picks–Righty Daniel Tuttle (5th) showed some surprising velocity this spring, but at this point he’s far more of a thrower than a pitcher. Catcher Tucker Burnhart (10th) will be a difficult sign, but he’s got solid skills both at the plate and behind it. Mark Fleury (4th) is another catcher who is far more likely to sign, and he drew one A.J. Pierzynski comparison.

Final Summary–Leake could move quickly through the minors, while Hamilton and some others provide upside. It’s neither an especially impressive nor disappointing group.

Bud’s Stimulus Handout: Joel Sherman of the New York Post had an interesting (yet absurd) column the other day, suggesting the Commissioner’s Office should eat one contract from each of the 30 teams to help them balance their books after this season. That would cost MLB around $396 million for the stupidity of ownership. Uh, no.

The Reds player whose contract should be eaten, according to Sherman: Coco Cordero ($25 mil)? Brandon Phillips ($18.75 mil)? Aaron Harang ($14.5 mil)? Edwin Encarnacion ($4.75 mil)?

Nope. Willy Taveras at $4 million.

 

Another Giveaway Heyday: There’s a bit of an uproar about how fast the giveaway Frank Robinson throwback jerseys (above) disappeared Saturday night at GABP. The first 20,000 fans in the park received the attractive mesh freebie but they were gone by 6 p.m. for a 7:40 p.m. start. Not surprisingly, by 8 p.m., they were listed on eBay. You know there’s a problem when one seller has sold 10 of the jerseys by Sunday night and has another six listed. Bobbleheads have been a dead market since 2005, but there are still a lot of Reds fans who buy a cheap ticket, grab the giveaways and immediately leave the park to sell the items on eBay.

I’m no expert on Reds giveaway items, but it seems the most popular items in recent years have been the Marty and Joe bobbleheads from 2003, the straw sun hat from 2008 and these Robinson jerseys. What do you think? 

The Jenkinses Evolution: Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post has “grown up” to be one of the best sports writers in America, something many of us in the field didn’t envision 20 years ago. She was so guilty of overwriting and underreporting that a fairly wide group believed she was 1.) a lesser-talented Lesley Visser wanna-be and 2.) getting by on the nepotism coattail of her famous, more talented father.

Her dad, of course, is the great Dan Jenkins, the long-time Sports Illustrated scribe known for writing the classic football novel “Semi-Tough” but more popularly known as perhaps the best golf writer of all time. Dan and his self-deprecating Texan humor never fails to entertain, and on Father’s Day this year Sally wrote a terrific story about the evolution of her dad to the world of Twittering.

It’s the kind of piece in the past 10 years that will garner Sally yet another national sportswriting award . . . all well-deserved. Like her dad, Sally has greatly evolved. Her latest book, the true Civil War saga “The State of Jones,” is due out tomorrow and already headed to film.

Things I Stole Off Other Sites: The Reds went 0-for-5 Sunday with runners in scoring position, making them 27-for-136 (.199) in their last 17 games. . . . Attendance for the White Sox series and the Civil Rights festivities was a healthy 103,415. Good for Bob, who says the weekend was a prelude to getting the All-Star Game. . . . C Ryan Hanigan has now hit safely in 26 of his 32 starts. . . . The injury bug is spreading to the minors. 3b prospect Juan Francisco has a balky hamstring. . . . Hardball Times’ weekly rankings have the Reds at No. 18. The Dodgers are No. 1. . . . Hal McCoy poses the question to Baker: What about Dog Hernandez to third base when Votto returns, keeping Hanigan in the lineup? Baker says no. I agree. That’s a spring training move, not midseason. . . . EE went 0-for-2 in his first rehab performance at Louisville. Don’t be shocked if his rehab lasts the full 20 days. . . . Our old pals Wily Mo Pena and Javy Valentin were released today from the Mets’ Class AAA Buffalo team.

‘Studio 42 with Bob Costas’: Growing pangs were naturally expected in the new MLB Network’s first year on the air, but the one area where the channel has greatly succeeded is the excellent discussion series, “Studio 42 with Bob Costas.”

A new episode premiers each Monday at 7 p.m. with repeats throughout the week.

The show is conducted in discussion format that Costas has long done so well. In recent episodes, there was an awesome sit-down with Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver to discuss the great Cardinals teams of the 1960s, and another chat with Al Kaline and Willie Horton talking about the 1968 World Series in which the Tigers stunned the Cardinals in seven games.

Monday’s show features former umpires Steve Palermo, Don Denkinger and Bruce Froemming–all a part of an interesting or controversial piece of baseball history. Will Denkinger admit he completely blew that call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series? Froemming’s controversial moment came in the 1977 NL Playoffs between the Phillies and Dodgers but he was also a Reds good luck charm–being part of the crew for the ’76 and ’90 World Series sweeps.

Palermo was the third-base umpire who waved Bucky Dent’s home run “fair” in the 1978 one-game regular-season playoff between the Red Sox and Yankees. But his career was ended when he interceded in a mugging of two women in Dallas, was shot and suffered paraplegia.

So if you love baseball history, you should watch “Studio 42″ or set your DVR for the series.

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