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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 > 2011 > June > 19
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Bronson Arroyo: No. 1, ace, stopper
CINCINNATI — Some fans insist the Cincinnati Reds are helpless without a No. 1 pitcher, without an ‘ace,’ without a stopper.
Permit me to introduce you to Bronson Anthony Arroyo of the Key West, Fla. Arroyos.
Pause here to permit a question: Do all you fans who want to the Reds to pound the pavement in search of a No. 1 pitcher consider Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals a No. 1 pitcher?
Sure you do, despite his record this year.
So consider this. Since 2004 when Carpenter became a starter with the Cardinals, he has put together 111 quality starts.
How many do you think Arroyo has in the same period? Well, after Sunday’s eight innings of one-run pitching in a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, Arroyo has 150.
Say hello to Mr. No. 1, Mr. Ace, Mr. Stopper.
AFTER THE RED were on the brink of getting swept, Arroyo stepped to the forefront — eight innings, one run (a home run), five hits, one walk, five strikeouts.
This comes from a guy who pitches 200 innings every year, wins 16 or 17 games and has never missed a start in his major-league career.
If that isn’t a No. 1, then somebody tell me what the guy has to do to be a No. 1, other than throw 98 miles an hour, which isn’t going to happen. Ever. In fact, the home run he gave up in the fifth inning to Adam Hill was a 71 miles an hour dangling participle of a curveball.
Arroyo, though, kind of agrees with some fans that he isn’t a No. 1, isn’t an ace, isn’t a stopper, despite the facts.
“Ah, honestly, I wouldn’t say I’m a No. 1,” he said. “The closest thing we have right now to No. 1 is Johnny Cueto. What I mean there is a guy who can go out there, without his Grade A stuff, and still give teams fits because he throws hard. And he’s dialed in right now.”
Of himself, Arroyo smiles and says, “If I feel good on certain days and get in a groove, I can feel like I’m a No. 1 at times. But across the board, I’m going to be consistent. But I have a lot of innings on my arm so I’m not what I was maybe four or five years ago.”
So was Sunday one of those days when he felt like a No. 1?
“When you leave the ball game after eight innings and it is 2-1 you feel like a No. 1,” he said.
MANAGER DUSTY BAKER probably said it best when he said of Arroyo, “You know how Bronson gets? He can go four or five starts and get shelled, then he can go seven or eight in a row and nobody hits him. It’s all about location, velocity and feel.”
When Baker mentioned location, he meant the location of Arroyo’s pitches, but he could have meant the location of the games, too.
The last two times Arroyo faced the Blue Jays, they were in Toronto’s Rogers Centre and he gave up 17 runs and 19 hits in only 4 2/3 innings.
This one was in Great American Ball Park — location, location, location.
“Everything is about location and off-speed,” said Baker. “He had great location. Nothing was over the heart of the plate. It was inside or outside or up or down.”
Of Arroyo’s status, Baker said, “He is the stabilizer of the staff, a guy to stop losing streaks.”
ARROYO GAVE up the leadoff home run to Hill in the fifth to fall behind, 1-0. Disaster lurked when the next two Jays singled to put runners on first and third with no outs.
But John McDonald tried a suicide squeeze bunt and pushed a pop-up between first and home that Reds first baseman Joey Votto snagged on the run, then fired to third base to double up Juan Rivera.
On the bench, Baker said to his team, “That was a game-saver right there. It was a foiled squeeze and ended up being the run that might have beat us right there. You need some breaks like that to win.”
The Reds had two on with one out in the eighth, a chance to post some insurance runs, but Miguel Cairo struck out, Fred Lewis was walk d to right.
That left it at 2-1 for closer Coco Cordero after Arroyo vacated after 103 pitches.
“You’re always nervous with a one-run lead when they have their three best hitters coming up in Jose Bautista, Adam Lind and Aaron Hill, who had already hit a home run,” said Baker. “Two swings of the bat and they could have the lead.”
But Cordero got Bautista on a hard liner to second, got Lind on a grounder to first and ended it by getting Hill on a fly to right for his 15th save in 17 opportunities.
Baker gave third baseman Scott Rolen off on Sunday and not only put Cairo at third base, he put him in Rolen’s No. 5 spot in the batting order — another fortuitous move by Baker, who constantly tugs the right levers.
With the Reds down, 1-0, in the sixth, Joey Votto popped a one-out single, one of three singles that stopped his 0 for 10 skid.
With two outs, Cairo drove one into the left field seats against Carlos Villanueva, who was 4-0 coming into the game.
That made it 2-1 and it stood.
“Rolen is feeling pretty good, swinging good,” said Baker. “I didn’t want him out of there, but I want him in there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday against the New York Yankees. We have an off day Thursday. I’m just trying to keep him so I can keep him (in the lineup).”
And of Cairo, he said, “That was so real big, especially since I had him in the fifth spot today, the best lineup I could come up with today, and today it worked big-time.”
MANAGER DUSTY BAKER hopes what Aroldis Chapman did for the Class AA Carolina Mudcats Saturday was something he can repeat — one more time in the minors and then for the Reds.
Chapman pitched two perfect innings — no runs, no hits, no walks, three strikeouts. His rehab time runs out in two days, so what’s ahead?
“We haven’t made a decision yet,” said Baker. “What Chapman did Saturday is what I asked him to do. I wanted him to finish strong and earn his way back here. Pitch your way back and don’t use your name to come back, pitch your way back.”
Baker said it is likely Chapman will pitch one more time in the minors, either Monday or Tuesday, before his rehab time expires.
“We’ll see,” said Baker. “If he’s Chapman before the wild streak, we can use him big-time. That would set us up big-time.”
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