Cueto's Return Could Key a Cincinnati Postseason Run

The National League Central has been the best division in the National League for the entire season. Milwaukee and Chicago had futile years, yet the other three teams have been powerhouses for the entire year.  Cincinnati Reds have been hanging around like that one Counting Crows song talks about. The Reds have not led the NL Central division since April 22 and they have only spent 10 days on top of the table yet unless all hell breaks loose, they will still be in the playoffs this season. 

Cincinnati bolstered their starting rotation by getting Johnny Cueto back from injury and pitched wonderfully in his first game back with the team in more than two and a half months. The Reds have held their heads above water without Cueto in the last 75 days give or take and now they get Cueto back for the postseason run. Could he become the difference for this team? 

Cueto battled through a variety of injuries throughout the first part of the season, but he did well in his 10 appearances this year.  He has an ERA of 3.02 with a WHIP of 1.08 and 46 strikeouts this season. If we equated that out to 30 starts, Cueto would have 136 strikeouts for the year. While it was an injury-riddled season, Cueto had another productive year for the Reds in a small sample size. He pitched well last night in a win against Houston going five innings, five hits, no runs and five strikeouts with one walk. Houston and his next start against New York are not great indicators of how Cueto will be against high level competition yet it is a great way to ease him back into the rotation. 

It is not like Cincinnati needed Cueto though. In September, the Reds have the third-best starting rotation ERA in the National League.  They really do have a good rotation, and not much is made of it.  Mike Leake is having a solid year. Homer Bailey is having a career year for the Reds. Bronson Arroyo, while he annoys me, is having a pretty decent year for what they ask of him. Tony Cingrani is having some back issues, but he also did a good job filling in for Cueto. The Reds have a formidable rotation and because of their lack of flash, it is sort of going ignored from the mainstream media. 

St. Louis Cardinals are always going to get attention because they are one of the most public teams in Major League Baseball.  People will always give the Cardinals the most attention possible and that's a given. Pittsburgh Pirates are the golden darlings of the National League. Everyone who does not have a horse in the fight will be cheering for the Pirates. Then there are the Reds who just keep winning and they have not done with their ace yet he is coming back for the final couple weeks of the season and the postseason. Oh and the way it sets up, Cueto will pitch the first game of the postseason whether it be the one-game playoff or the postseason.

This is the one unknown about Cueto. He does not really have any postseason experience. He pitched once in 2010, but in no way should we look at that as the indicator for how he will be in the postseason. Last season, he strained a back muscle in the first 10 pitches of his first outing against San Francisco.  Cueto could easily implode in the playoffs and all I have said could have go for naught yet having him back is a major upgrade for the Reds. 

While people look towards St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles even who might be the biggest darling of the postseason, Cincinnati is still there. The Reds might be lurking the postseason woods and coming up big when least expected.

Charlie.  

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Highlights-Lowlights: Reds v. Brewers (9/13-9/15)

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Carlos Gomez - Remember how I complained about Gomez's last two months?  He obviously was also tried of hearing about it too. On Friday night, Gomez drove in five runs providing all of the Milwaukee Brewers offense for the night. He also drove in runs on Saturday and Sunday as well, but Gomez's biggest play came in the ninth inning of Sunday's game. He robbed Jay Bruce of a three-run homer or possibly an extra-base hit. Just give this man the Gold Glove.



Kyle Lohse - Like Gomez, he scuffled a bit in the last couple of weeks and Lohse found a way to shutdown the Reds Friday night with a complete game. Lohse retired 23 straight batters before giving up a hit in the ninth inning. He looked stellar against the Reds mixing in all of his pitches and Cincinnati had no answer for him. It cannot be stated enough how good of a year Lohse is having this season.

Sean Halton - Second straight time appearing in the Highlights section but it is deserving as Halton capped off a four run comeback by the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Halton hit a home run off Zach Duke (Yes that Zach Duke) in walk-off fashion. I said it last week and I will repeat myself here, there is absolutely no reason why Yuni B or Juan Francisco at this point.

Jean Segura - Good weekend for Mean Jean. He had not been struggling, but let's just say, he was sort of stagnant not making the plays he had during the year. Segura had a massive two-run triple during the Brewers comeback on Sunday.   He had two stolen bases and two runs on Friday making sure Gomez had ducks on the pond.

Lowlights
Michael Blazek - Not a great appearance for the young Brewer on Saturday afternoon.  The Brewers had cut the lead down to 4-3 in the fourth inning and Blazek came into the game in the 6th. As many have done before him, Blazek surrendered a two-run home run to Joey Votto to push the lead back out to three. That is a killer.

Aramis Ramirez's injury - It has been a rough year for Rami. He has battled through all sorts of injuries and banged up his wrist again on Friday.  It is fair to say this is a concern at this point with Ramirez's age and still having another year left on his contract.

Johnny Hellweg -  He did not handle the Reds very well on Saturday afternoon. Hellweg struggled in the first two innings of the game with giving up two runs in both innings. After that, he settled in nicely. There are still kinks to work out with Hellweg. I do not know if he is ready to be a big league starter yet, only time will tell with that one.

Michael Gonzalez - Yup, still here.

Charlie.

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Reds v. Brewers Preview (9/13-9/15)

(Ed. Note: Since the next two series are against teams the Brewers have played against multiple times recently, we are just going to have new Brewer articles on Monday and Friday but Highlights/Lowlights will stay)

Pitching Probables & TV Times
Friday: Mat Latos (14-5 3.02) v. Kyle Lohse (9-9 3.59)                      7:10 pm FSNWI
Saturday: Homer Bailey (10-10 3.39) v. Johnny Hellweg (1-3 8.64)     12:05 pm FOX
Sunday: Bronson Arroyo (13-11 3.58) v. Yovani Gallardo (11-9 4.19) 1:10 pm FSNWI

Five Things to Watch
1. Do they really have to face Bronson? - I think my least favorite National League Central pitcher is Bronson Arroyo because he pitches well against the Brewers by just throwing junk.  Brewers Twitter likes to make jokes about him being a Brewer next year and if that happens, I will need some whiskey and a long conversation with myself. That would be worse than the thought of Aramis Ramirez being a Brewer (Now I love it).  Good news, he pitches Sunday so the odds are 96 percent of Wisconsin will not be watching it.

2. Why are the Brewers on FOX? - I know the actual reason because they are playing the Reds who are vying for a playoff spot maybe even the National League Central crown. But does part of America really want to watch the Brewers play baseball?  This is not as bad as the Brewers playing in primetime next Sunday night. Milwaukee is like the disappointing child I would never want to show in public, but I still love them unconditionally.  

3. Johnny Hellweg versus the Reds - At first, I thought he would have to pitch at Great American Ballpark, but being at Miller Park against Cincinnati's offense will still not be easy for the young Brewers pitcher.  For any young pitcher, the biggest part of the start is the second time through the order. Hellweg needs to get the groundballs that he got last Saturday pitching against the Cubs.  

4. Yo's bounce back looks to continue - Maybe the one person to stop Arroyo's reign of terror will be Yovani Gallardo whose been excellent since coming off the Disabled List. He goes Sunday against Arroyo and even with his season being sort of topsy-turvy, Yo has done well against the Reds so far this season.

5. Can the Brewers win a home series? - The Brewers have not won a series at Miller Park since mid-July when they swept the Miami Marlins. They had a split against these very Reds in mid-August, but that's been their best result at home. While I want them to tank, it would be nice to take a couple games from the Reds and make the National League race more interesting.

Charlie.  

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Case Against and For Expanded MLB Playoffs

Mike Carp did some damage to the
struggling Tampa Bay Rays. 

Last year, Major League Baseball changed their rules to a five-team playoffs allowing an extra team in for a one-game playoff. It created a great deal of discussion about what might be next for baseball. In my opinion, I could see baseball shortening the season by a week and then having the fourth and fifth team play a three-game series versus one single game. They say this would cause some damage, but a one-game playoff does nothing for me personally.  I doubt they will expand to six teams or heaven forbid eight teams.

The one people should probably expect is baseball is as Taylor Swift might say never ever getting back together with the four-team playoff model. Although if the playoffs were pre-2012, the National League would be must-see every night. But the American League shows why five teams is the better decision in the long run.  

The National League would be awesome in the next couple weeks if they were only four teams allowed in because right now, it is a five-team race with five playoff sports. I highly doubt the Washington Nationals can catch the fifth spot, but then again, weird shit happens in baseball all the time.  There would be storylines about what if the Pittsburgh Pirates do not get in after having their best season since 1992 or could the other two NL Central teams outlast the St. Louis Cardinals having the Cards miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Would it be unfair to one of these teams?   Yes but only if it is St. Louis or Pittsburgh missing out.  Cincinnati has sort just been there the whole year. They are like the person who ends up at the party yet you have absolutely no idea how they got there. We all know that guy or girl. Unless one of these teams pull a Boston or a New York Mets in following couple weeks,  the National League playoffs are all but set just need to place the teams. These two weeks will still be fine in the NL because there is some intrigue to see where these squads finish, but it would have been awesome to see what happened when the pressure would have been truly on.

The American League is a completely other story.  While the AL East and AL Central are probably locked up by Boston and Detroit, the rest of the league is still as open as a field in Idaho.  Texas is the Wild Card, but they are only three games back from Oakland for the AL West. The second Wild Card is truly unpredictable and makes its case for why baseball needs the fifth Wild Card position.  As of this morning, four teams are within three games of the second Wild Card position. The Tampa Rays are clutching on the lead, but they have lost seven of their last 10 games trending water right now at the worst time. New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals are vying for the final position making for an absolutely thrilling final couple of weeks.

The other great thing about the American League race right now is it is not a guarantee Texas will make the playoffs either as the first Wild Card. They are only 2.5 games ahead of Tampa meaning most of the teams mentioned above have a chance at overtaking both Wild Cards with a hot run in the final two weeks of the season. It is likely inevitable some team whether in the playoffs or not will shit the bed and will be the talk of the baseball world.

If you are a purist, and wish baseball still had a four-team playoff, maybe pretend the National League still allows four teams. But if you want to have some fun, watch American League baseball in the coming weeks because it is setting up for some fantastic theater.

Charlie.

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Highlights & Lowlights of the Brewers' Week.

Usually we break down just one series, but since the Brewers had one two-game, I thought we would wrap up the entire week. If you are looking for Braun stuff, I will probably end up writing something on him come tomorrow.   

Highlights
Johnathan Lucroy - The Brewers catcher had hit safely in six straight games, but he saved his best for the sixth one. Lucroy went 4 for 5 with three RBI's and one big home run. The homer came off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning to win the game for the Brewers. The celebration really felt like these players were happy for Luc and I am starting to buy into the idea he is the 'captain' of this ball team.  Doug Melvin deserves a ton of credit for locking this guy up early on in his career, turned out be stellar value.

Yovani Gallardo - Wow, what a comeback for Brewers supposed ace on Saturday night. He completely shut down the Reds going sixth and a third innings with three hits allowed, three strikeouts, no runs and only 82 pitches thrown. The last one is the most important. If Yo can find a way to be efficient again and go after batters, the Brewers might really have something moving forward next season.

Khris Davis - What a tear Davis has been on lately. He has six home runs since his call-up in mid-July and Davis is hitting safely in his last five games.  The Brewers rookie vaulted his average to .305.  I am not sure if Davis could be a full-time starter in the major leagues. He definitely has to work on his fielding in left to be considered for the part. The Brewers outfield is already crowded but Davis could be a valuable fourth outfielder for the team next season.

Scooter Gennett - Yes Scooter continued his rampage in Texas with two home runs and some great defensive work on Wednesday night. He had the night off on Thursday night, but Gennett picked up where he left off this weekend, with hits in each of his starts plus a double on Sunday afternoon. I am not a believer by any means, but the Rickie Weeks Hate Club is getting stronger every time Scooter finds his way on-base.

Lowlights
Cincinnati Reds announcers - So this is pretty pathetic. On Friday night, the Reds broadcast team goes completely silent when Lucroy hits his walk-off. Not heard on this clip, the Reds color commentator said this about Lucroy via Grantland's Jonah Keri

Color commentator accused Lucroy of stealing signs, because how could he have possibly hit Chapman. Kid you not. RT @fredj @me Any tears?
— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) August 17, 2013

OH NO OUR PRECIOUS AROLDIS!!!! NO ONE HOMERS OFF OF HIM AND THE BREWERS HAVE BRAUN SO THEY MUST ALL BE CHEATERS.  Note: He did not say the following, but I assume this is his convoluted thought process.

Wily Peralta - Bad Wily came out to play on Sunday afternoon. I really do not get upset at it anymore. It is like your drinking buddy whom you always have fun with but there are those times where he or she just goes overboard making you question why they are your friend, that's bad Wily Peralta for me. Yes I know that's as convoluted as my statement above, whatever, it's Monday.  

Aaron Rodgers Brewers Jerseys - I use to say the customized jersey was the worst thing for a grown man to wear but now I am going with this one. What a chump. Who on earth thinks that would be a good idea?  What a complete assclown. Yes, I did see this person on Brady on Saturday night and nearly punched him in the larynx.

Mike Gonzalez's Wednesday - Just leave this ball team.

Charlie.

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Cincinnati Reds vs. Milwaukee Brewers (8/15-8/18)

From now on, we are previewing the upcoming series with a variety of things. The pitching matchups with the TV times, five things to watch, notable musician from the opposing team's area, Twitter follows from the opposition and a prediction. 

Probable Pitchers & TV Times

Thursday: Tony Cingrani (5-2 2.87) v. Kyle Lohse (8-7 3.26) 7:10 pm FSNWI

Friday:     Mike Leake (10-5 2.86) v. Tom Gorzelanny (3-4 2.51) 7:10 pm FSNWI 

Saturday: Mat Latos (12-3 3.04) v. Yovani Gallardo (8-9 4.91) 6:10 pm FSNWI

Sunday:   Homer Bailey (7-10 3.81) v. Wily Peralta (8-12 4.30) 1:10 pm FSNWI

5 Things to Watch 

1.) Brewers on my Birthday - Because I have no life, I spent some time figuring out how the Brewers do on my birthday (Today), they are 8-14 and three of those wins came in my first three years of existence. They are typically pretty bad on my day of birth, let's hope today is different. Last year was a brutal bullpen loss against Colorado, a team whom the Brewers have played multiple times on my birthday.

2.) Reds are red hot - It is okay if I use one pun a post, right guys?  The Reds have found themselves winning ball games again and they are starting to creep back into the race for the National League Central. Starting play today, the Reds are 3.5 games back of the leading Pittsburgh Pirates, but they are 5.5 games ahead in the second Wild Card spot. At least right now, it seems like a given the NL Central is getting three teams into the playoffs. Cincinnati is doing it more with pitching and still banging the baseball around now and again.

3.) Pitcher duel weekend? - The Brewers are probably up against it this weekend. Three of the four Reds starters have an ERA either under three or right at three and then the other one already has a no-hitter under his belt for 2013. Mat Latos is probably pitching the best for the Reds this season overall. I would definitely consider him the ace of this staff.  Naturally, the Brewers usually struggle against him. The only one in the four they hit well is Homer Bailey.

4.) The return of Yovani - After nearly a month of the disabled list, Yovani Gallardo will be making a start in August. He had a horrible July and looks to try to build some momentum into the 2014 season. Yo pitched well against the Reds earlier this season and pitching at home always helps easing a pitcher back into the rotation. I doubt he will pitch his usual count; my assumption would be he will be on a strict limit and then the Brewers move to the bullpen.

5.) SnoTap Scooter watch - I finally said on Twitter, I believed Scooter Gennett is trolling me. The guy played his ass off in the two Texas games with a multi-homer game on Tuesday night, and then did all of the little things with the bat and glove on Wednesday night. He faces the home crowd again along with some stiff competition. Knowing how things are going for Scooter, he will hit a walk off grand slam this weekend.

Prediction
Eh. I would love to say the Brewers could find a split here with the way they are playing, but the Crew struggles against the Fightin' Jay Bruce's usually. I feel like they will get a game here, hopefully tonight on my birthday.

Charlie. 

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