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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > April > 29
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Cueto cuffed by Cards
When the media arrived in front of Johnny Cueto’s dressing stall Tuesday night, his clothes were gone and that meant one of two things:
ONE - Not only did the St. Louis Cardinals beat the bejabbers out of him on the Busch Stadium grass, but they stole his pants, too.
TWO - He had no hankering to rehash a personal train wreck.
It was the latter and there are only so many ways in Spanish to say, “I got mugged.”
In only 1 2/3 innings, shortest work day of the year by a Cincinnati Reds starter, Cueto gave up seven runs (six earned) and eight hits en route to a 7-2 defeat.
Cause for concern? How about a bit of dismay?
Since he held the Arizona Diamondbacks to one hit and struck out 10 in his major-league debut April 3, Cueto is 0-3 in his next four starts with a 6.74 ERA.
Not good, not good.
I didn’t mean to do it, but I started a war in the Brennaman family during the second inning on the radio when I pointed out that Cueto has not been good in his last four starts.
Young Thom jumped to Cueto’s defense, saying he is young (22) and that he shouldn’t be on a short leash just because this team wants to win this year, that he should be given a full chance.
Old Marty (Marty and I are very old) agreed with me that he should have a short leash. Don’t let the dogs eat him alive. Protect him, if need be.
Marty and I agree that if Cueto stays in the rotation regardless of what happens because he is young and learning, than the Reds can’t do it both ways. If they are going young, then where is Homer Bailey and where is Jay Bruce?
Reports indicate that Bailey still is too inconsistent and that Bruce is striking out way too much (21 times in 90 at-bats). But if they are going to stick with Cueto and make the major-league experience a learning experience, then Bailey and Bruce should be learning up here, too.
As I said to Marty, and he agreed, “You can’t have it both ways.” Thom was in the throes of apoplexy and Marty said, “Settle down, son. You’re going to have a heart attack.”
Maybe Cueto will settle everybody down and throw a gem next time. He has enough pressure on him, being a 22-year-old who speaks no English and was pitching at Class A Sarasota at this time last year.
To me there is added pressure. His best friend, his compadre, the guy he is always with, Edinson Volquez, is 4-0. Cueto sees that and wants to do as well. More pressure.
Maybe Edinson stole his pants.
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TweetOf erors and mstkes
To Reds Authority (and other malcontents):
I wanted to send this message to you personally, Reds Authority, but you have your e-mail blocked (big surprise).
As for errors and mistakes on the blog, permit me some explanation. First of all, the blog is added work, something I love to do, but added work nonetheless - done in addition to what I write for the paper.
So, for example, when I could have left the press box at midnight Monday, I stayed to write the Arroyo/Encarnacion blog and got back to the hotel at 1 a.m. I have no editors. I write it and post it. I do it quickly so I can get it out there to you folks.
On Tuesday, I had lunch then went back to the hotel and wrote the Phillips blog and sent it before I went to the ballpark for my regular work.
As I said, I love doing it and I do it to try to inform and entertain, provide some insight and some material that doesn’t make the paper.
If there are errors and typos, I apologize. I don’t do it on purpose.
It kind of aggravates me, though - all the sniping and sometimes it makes me wonder if it is worth the extra effort. For 98 percent of you, it is worth it to me. It’s the two percenters who pick, pick, pick that make me think I should abandon and stick to the newspaper.
I don’t get paid extra to blog two or three times a day. I just love to do it. Then I read the comments and cringe.
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TweetBrandon Phillips: the enigma
For those who are Brandon Phillips fans - and there should be legions because he is a multi-talented player who is a star headed for super stardom - this is not an anti-Phillips post.
I, too, am a Phillips admirer. The guy can play - hit, field, throw, run. What else is there?
His smile is dazzling and he loves the fans. He doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t drink and that, too, is admirable.
If only he would lighten up with the media - and I don’t just mean me. He is currently on an anti-media sulk. After hitting two home runs in San Francisco Sunday, he refused to go on the Foxsports/Ohio post-game show with Jeff Picaro. He refused to talk to the San Francisco writers after the game and he refused to talk to me, telling me, “Stay out of my space.”
That’s fine. I’ll stay out of his space. I don’t need his quotes to write about him. And I won’t hold it against him. Some will.
I did that once and still can’t forgive myself. In 1980, I had an NL Cy Young Award ballot. Steve Carlton was 24-9 with the Phillies. He would not talk to the media at all, ever. But he received every Cy Young vote but one.
Mine.
And I did it only because he yelled at me once when I tried to interview him. He did the same with other writers, but they still voted for him. I should have. I didn’t. I voted for LA’s Jerry Reuss, who was 18-6 with a 2.51 ERA. I used the lame excuse, “Well, I saw him beat the Reds four times that year.”
I wouldn’t do that now, but some might. Some out-of-town writers might hold it against Phillips if he is rude with them or refuses interviews. And he is good enough that there might come a time when he gets MVP votes.
The writers in Cleveland warned me. “Phillips is great as long as things are going good, but he’ll turn on you, just wait,” one said. The guy was right.
What probably started this was a column last week by my talented cohort, Dayton Daily News columnist Tom Archdeacon. I wasn’t there when this happened, but I’m told when Archdeacon asked about his slump, Phillips said, “I’m not in any slump.” And he was rude to Arch.
OK, so 5 for 36 isn’t a slump? If it isn’t, what is it? I saw Phillips react the same way when another writer referred to Brandon’s troubles as, “A slump.”
When I tried to talk to him Sunday, after he yelled to get out of his space, he said nobody talks to him when he is going bad (So it’s not a slum, just “going bad”), they just write crap about him. Then they want to talk when he is going good.
He should be happy about that. If nobody talks to him when he is going bad he doesn’t have to answer questions about slumps. Most players prefer to talk just when they are going good.
We won’t get into his habit of standing at home plate and watching home runs, as he did after his second home run Sunday in San Francisco. It infuriated the Giants - which I found a bit amusing, because their former teammate, Barry Bonds, was a master of the Home Run Stare.
But it is going to get Phillips and his teammates thrown at.
As I said, I do NOT hold this against Phillips. I’ll respect his space and leave him alone and I won’t withhold any votes for awards. But the guy can be so engaging when he wants to be engaging. And he can be one big turnoff.
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TweetEverybody into the pool
So here we are in St. Louis, where from the rooftop press box in Busch Stadium III I can see Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania.
A moment ago an American Airlines flight on its glide path to Lambert Field flew UNDER us. I’m looking DOWN on the Gateway Arch.
On the field, it looks as if two armies of red ants are doing battle.
Nowhere do I see a swimming pool. Not one. Bronson Arroyo finds them, though, and uses them to his advantage. He may look like Ichabod Crane, but he is doing his best to be another Johnny Weissmuller (for the old folks) or Mark Spitz (for the younger set).
Those are swimmers, folks.
And that’s what Arroyo credits with the velocity he found Monday on his fastball that helped him record his first victory this year, 4-3, over the St. Louis Cardinals.
With his velocity drooping at 88 the last two starts, Arroyo decided to try something different in his training routine. Swimming. Find a Y. Find a Boys Club. Even a Girls Club. So he and strength/conditioning coach Matt Krause went swimming four straight days to strengthen Arroyo’s shoulders.
Suddenly his fastball was back to 90 and 91 and for the first time this season he finished six innings, giving up three runs and six hits.
Afterward, he felt like shouting, “Here’s a news flash! Cannonball,” then jumping butt first into the nearest bank fountain.
“I finally had some zip on the ball, much stronger than any other start,” he said. “It’s great when you feel you can beat guys by throwing a fastball by them, especially when you get behind in the count.
“I felt like my stuff was there, other than the lack of a fastball,” he said. “You look at guys like Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, guys I played with in the past, and the times they were down three or four miles an hour on their fastball, even they had trouble getting guys out. You give guys a lot more time to react when you are throwing 84, 85, 86 miles an hour than if you get it up there 90 and 91.”
OK, are you ready for this? Manager Dusty Baker believes that in the near future third baseman Edwin (E as in Error) Encarnacion can win a Gold Glove. Know what? I agree.
EE makes incredible plays, out of the ordinary plays. Then he botches a 22-hopper right at him or picks up a routine ground ball and throws it to Pete Rose Way.
On Monday he made two wondrous plays. The first, a diving stop in the seventh with the Reds up one run with two runners on base, ended the inning. Then he ended the game with the tying run on base with an injury-defying slide against the dugout fence to snag a foul ball.
Said Baker, “Eddie saved the game with that play on Molina (in the seventh). That was a tough play, a great play, sliding into the fence to end the game. He has made some great plays. It’s just a matter of consistency and keep working. Because he works hard. He is conscious of it and does extra work and some day he has a chance to win Gold out there.
“Most of his errors are throwing or simple errors,” Baker said. “He guides the ball. But he has been playing some baseball.”
Encarnacion agrees.
“When you focus, you have opportunities to make plays like that,” he said. “On that last pop fly, I say in my mind, ‘I’m going to catch that ball no matter how.’ I don’t care if I hit the wall or the fence. Defense is how your team wins the game. That’s how we win tonight. Defense is part of winning games.”
Gold?
“I know I can do it, I just have to keep working, going forward, and I know I’ll play great defense the rest of my career.”
Maybe he can go swimming with Arroyo.
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