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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 column

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Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2010 > September > 10 > Entry

Harang is out and Volequez is in

By Hal McCoy | Friday, September 10, 2010, 06:01 PM

FOR THOSE WORRIED that Aaron Harang might start another game for the Cincinnati Reds, fear not. All week his name has been listed as Saturday’s starter against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it isn’t going to happen.

Edinson Volquez will make that start and Harang has been placed in the bullpen, “Because that’s where he started with Oakland,” said manager Dusty Baker. “He has some pretty good teachers out there on how to warm up. This is a pretty good idea because his nemesis innings are usually the third or fourth inning. He come in and give us a couple of innings, making it a very usable situation for him and us. He handled it very professionally.”

Actually, Harang only pitched two games out of the bullpen for Oakland and made 21 starts - but the move by Baker had to be made.

VOLQUEZ MADE two starts at Class A Dayton and struck out 10 in five innings in his second start, but most importantly, “I worked on my mechanics. It was good, more consistent, threw more strikes. My arm was late, moving forward before my arm caught up with my head. Now I stay back, on my back leg, and I have a better delivery.”

For sure the Reds need Volquez to deliver in the final month of the season.

MANAGER DUSTY Baker was snake-belly low after the Reds lost six of seven on the just-completed road trip - then he heard about the gas line explosion that leveled 50 homes in San Bruno, Calif., “About three blocks from my house I’ve owned in that area for 15 years.

“My son and daughter has some schoolmates that lost their houses,” he said. “They said it sounded like the end of the world and it was so hot the cement melted. There were fire bombs going off 200 and 300 feet in the air. That eased my pain from the road trip and put it in proper perspective. This is important - very important - but when I think about those people, I think, ‘Man, they’d trade with me in a minute.’”

FANS IN A PANIC should know a few things. First of all, remember 1990, the last Cincinnati World Series champions? They began the season 33-12 and had a 10-game lead in mid-June. By August 4 it was down to 3½ games, back up to 5½ on September 9 (right about now), back down to 3½ on September 26 and won the division by five.

Also, of the eight teams who made the playoffs last year, six had losing streaks in September of three or more games and the Cardinals had three three-game losing streaks.

GENERAL MANAGER Walt Jocketty activated Mike Leake and Jim Edmonds off the disabled list - and the activation of Edmonds was much to the surprise of Edmonds and Baker.

Edmonds still has a sore side and has only hit off the tee and isn’t ready for every day action, but said, “I’ve just taken some easy swings and taking it one day at a time to get ready to go full speed. I haven’t done a whole lot so I don’t think they expect me to do much. But they are kind of short in the outfield (three healthy bodies) so they’d only use me in an emergency situations. They have enough players to use and hopefully it doesn’t come to that issue. But I’m here if needed.”

LEAKE IS OFF the DL, but not ready to pitch. His role?

“Pinch-run, pinch-hit, pinch-bunt, pinch-everything,” said Baker. “He told me two months ago if I needed an emergency outfielder he can do that, too. That’s a REAL emergency, even though right now I only have three outfielders.”

NOT MUCH positive on Jay Bruce and Orlando Cabrera, two other operatives with side problems. Neither was in Friday’s lineup and Baker is giving a “maybe” for Sunday for Bruce.

“I’m a lot better and I’ve hit the last couple of days, but I want to make sure I’m extra healthy and ready to go because I don’t want to come back and get hurt again and miss the rest of the season,” said Bruce. “Hopefully - the next few days. But it isn’t something I’m going to push. I’m seeing through the process and coming back at 100 percent, not 90 percent, not 80 percent.”

Cabrera says the pain in his side has yet to go away and if he plays one game, “The soreness lasts for two days afterward. Other people with this injury (oblique) tell me it takes about a month-and-a-half of rest to heal. I can’t do that. I played the whole year to be in the playoffs and I want to be there. I’ll probably take the weekend off and see about next week.”

THIS ONE IS unfathomable for those who have watched Corky Miller run. Miller is one of only five major-league players whose first career stolen base was a theft of home.

Miller did it 2001 and it should be no surprise that nine years later it is STILL his only stolen base in the majors.

“It was in Philadelphia and Brady Clark was batting against left-hander Omar Daal,” said Miller. “We had first and third and we put on the squeeze play - September 27 2001. As soon as he lifted his leg, I took off. He threw over to first base and then the guy threw home and I was sliding in.”

Miller laughed and said, “I used to have some speed.” (He has 17 minor-league stolen bases, but has been caught 25 times).

Alas, his theft of home for the Reds was his only stolen base attempt in his 10-year major-league career.

“But when I did it, I was the first Cincinnati catcher since Johnny Bench to steal home,” he said

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