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NL first baseman of note:

Player “A”: .303/.413/.527 for a .940 OPS 8 HR 29 RBI 25 R 3 SB

Player “B”: .299/.351/.486 for a. 837 OPS 8 HR 32 RBI 28 R 0 SB

Player “C”: .271/.389/.440 for a .829 OPS 7 HR 19 RBI 28 R 1 SB

Player “D”: .295/.337/.434 for a .771 OPS 4 HR 28 RBI 28 R 6 SB

Player “E”: .233/.347/.437 for a .784 OPS 5 HR 14 RBI 10 R 0 SB

And then there is this guy:

Player “also”: .307/.406/.548 for a .954 OPS 10 HR 33 RBI 29 R 6 SB

The first five on the list are the current leading vote-getters at 1b in balloting for the All-start game for the NL: Pujols, Howard, Fielder, Loney and Berkman. Good names all, Berkman there on name recognition, Pujols as one of the best players in his generation off to another robust start, Howard and Fielder as premier players with name recognition.

The “also” player is, of course, given my particular baseball zealotry, Joey Votto. I am not making this post to argue that he should be leading the all-star voting or even make the team. In a league with Pujols, Howard, and Fielder, that’s just not going to happen for him, ever. At least, being voted in will not. But I do make the post to point out that Votto has quietly, over the last two plus seasons, been putting up numbers that should have him in the conversation with the elites at the postion. Or at least acknowledged as belonging in that group. His numbers so far this season have him first among NL 1b in BA, HR, SLG, TB, RBI and tied for first in SB and runs and is second in OBP.

So, yeah, pretty damn good.

Why are the Reds playing such good ball and currently tied for first in the NL Central? A lot of it has to do with Votto’s presence in the middle of the line-up.

With yesterday’s win, the Reds are in first place this late in season for the first time since June 2006.

Fully admit, that’s not good. But if you are a Reds fan, this is a heady moment. And yes, I fully expect the rug to be pulled out from under their feet soon. But in the meantime, a Reds fan can revel in taking two of three from St. Louis, and having gotten more complete games last week (J. Cueto, Homer Bailey and Bronson Arroyo) than the team got in the entire 2001, 2002, 2005, or 2008 seasons.

So, baby steps. Since August 21 of last season, the Reds are 49-30. And, credit to a guy I have long since kiled in these spaces, Dusty Baker, for making some changes after the Reds came out of the gate 7-11 and were lucky to be that good. He tinkered with the batting order (not easy for a guy as set in his ways as Baker is) and unleashed a good old-fashioned tirade at the team after they played one of the most mentally lazy games I have ever seen a team play back on April 24. The tirade included this on-point thought:

“”‘This is my last year here (if we lose),’” Arroyo recalled Baker saying. “‘It’s a lot of guys’ last year here. If we’re going out, you better go out fighting. I’m not going out like a punk. We’ve got to fight to the end. We’ve got to go all out.”

I like the sentiment. For a decade now, too many Reds teams and players have “gone out like a punk”. It would be nice to see an edition go down fighting. Maybe this group will.

Nice bait and switch by the Reds this spring. Get everyone talking about Aroldis Chapman, and quietly prep Mike Leake to be the first pitcher to skip straight from college to the pros since Darren Dreifort. And the first starting pitcher to make the leap since Jim Abbott. Now, granted, the Hall of Fame is noticeably lacking pitchers taking this route to fame and fortune, but the Reds swear that Leake is preternaturally composed on the mound and is ready for the majors. And, if they are right, I like the call. I get so tired of Super 2 shenanigans from teams, the Braves hurt themselves last year in my estimation by holding Tommy Hanson back, and I am glad to see the Reds trying something different. And if Leake gets in over his head, there is Travis Wood and, yes, Aroldis Chapman in AAA to step in a little later.

Bold. Not at all in character for Cincy. It’s a nice new look.

Because I can.

First time starting today against Milwaukee, a leadoff homerun to Rickie Weeks, and then not much of anything off of him. His line:

3 IP 1 hit 1 R 5 Ks 1 BB.

45 pitches, 29 for strikes. He touched 100 on the gun again, and was sitting at 98 generally. Nasty slider apparently.

Reds fans? Probably giddy. I know I am. The fun continues for a little while longer this spring…

Check out the Reds’ dugout in the picture below:

Whatever “it” is, Aroldis Chapman is rocking it as Reds camp unfolds. Joe Posnanski with some words that make this Reds fan giggle. Hey, let me enjoy it now, before something inevitably goes wrong…(insert your own damn wry Dusty-Baker-and-young-arms-pithiness here as it suits you).

Supposedly, against all reasonable guesses, the Reds are going to win the bidding for Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman. He’s 22. He’s a lefty. He’s a flamethrower (reportedly in the high 90s when he wants to). And he has control issues. So there’s that. At any rate, not a bad gamble. And, at $30 million per the reports, if true, it means the Reds might be getting off the financial-woe-is-me bench. And that is something I did not think I would see at any point soon.

Because, damn, the eight remaining Reds fans and 7 remaining Pirates fans want to make sure this pain is shared, as of last Friday night, the Reds and Pirates had 13 meetings left this season on the schedule.

13.

I say again, 13.

After Pittsburgh brought the pain the last two nights, we are down to 11 meetings left between these captains of suck.

Today, the Reds (51-71) are running out there:

Chris Dickerson CF
Paul Janish SS
Joey Votto 1B
Brandon Phillips 2B
Scott Rolen 3B
Laynce Nix LF
Jonny Gomes RF
Ryan Hanigan C
Homer Bailey P

The Pirates (51-70) are running out:

Andrew McCutcheon CF
Delwyn Young 2b
“G” Jones 1b
Lastings Milledge LF
Ryan Doumit C
Brandon Moss RF
Ramon Vazquez 3b
Brian Bixler SS
Kevin Hart P

If you do NOT have MLB’s TV package and cannot see this battle of, well, look at those line-ups and marvel, then, um, good for you. Because that is just fuckawful. The Pirates, to remind you, have not had a winning season since 1992. This will be their 17th straight losing season.

As for the Reds, they have not had a winning season since their 2000 team (Jr.’s first year with the team and his only fully healthy year with the team), making them nine such losing seasons in a row. I would say Bengal-esque, but the Bengals during THEIR lost decades occasionally finished .500.

So, Pirates. Reds. Catch the fever. It will likely make you bleed from the eyes and ears.

…fucked.

The Walt Jocketty era has been a disaster, full of half steps, signings that make no sense, and no identifiable plan. They continue to play Willy Taveras against all reason, and I am still trying to figure out how a club that cries poverty acquires an expensive and injury-prone 34-year-old Scott Rolen for indentifiable pitching prospects, taking on salary to some degree and dealing an actual asset (actually assets) in today’s baseball. It just makes no sense. Jocketty gives the appearance of the game having long since passed him by, and given that an organization that actually knows what it’s doing and what it wants to be in St. Louis kicked him to the curb, this is highly disturbing to any Reds fans not in a coma. At any rate, responding to growing criticism that the Reds have no plan, Jocketty spewed this verbal diarrhea yesterday:

“The plan is . . . we have a plan, let’s put it at that. . . The plan is to try and develop quality young players and build a foundation for the organization for the long-term, not just the short-term. We’re also trying to be fair to our fans and be competitive as much as we could this year. I think we were until we were hit with a lot of injuries in the middle of July. We didn’t have the depth to compensate for it. The plan is to continue to sign quality young talent and develop it to the major league level. That’s simplifying it. But that’s the plan.”

Jeebus.

Absolutely unacceptable, Walt. You fuckin’ moron. That’s about as coherent as Tom Smykowski’s defense of his job description to the “Bobs” on Office Space:

Well-well look. I already told you: I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers don’t have to.

I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people.

Can’t you understand that?

What the hell is wrong with you people?

Indeed.

So Walt’s grand plan is to “sign quality young talent and develop it to the major league level”? Well no fucking shit, sherlock. I would imagine THAT is it goddamn plan at EVERY FUCKING OTHER TEAM in major league baseball too. Jesus, you suck Walt. How, exactly, are you going to set about doing that? I guess that is the question, and you seem to have no fucking idea. None.

And in terms of your stated fucking plan, you just dealt one major league ready young reliever and a starting pitching prospect who is m a y b e about half a year from being ready for a 34-year-old rapidly decaying Scott Rolen, so, in terms of whatever it is you think your plan is, you are already fucking failing. You fucking tool. And that is setting aside the continuing Willy Taveras abomination in CF and at the leadoff spot in the Cincy line-up. That you let Dusty Baker continue to do this to the fanbase is simply evil.

Walt, you suck. In all respects. Fuck you.

Quoth Brandon Phillips:

“I don’t believe that on-base percentage stuff. That’s overrated to me. If you get hits, you’ll be on base. That’s what it’s about.”

Brandon Phillips’ OBP last year? .312. His OPS+? 92. And he’s Cincy’s clean-up hitter.

Awesome.