A: With commissioner Rob Manfred, that isn’t far-fetched. But if some TSA employees man the scanners the process might be longer than a rain delay. And they would make the pitchers take off their belts, their shoes, empty their pockets and show ID.
Q: When the Reds signed Nick Castellanos, the scouting report was that he was doubles machine, but a defensive liability at third base, but how has he fit in defensively in right field? — JOHN, Oxford.
A: They were right about the doubles. He leads the world in two-baggers. The Reds were wise to place him in right field. In his first game as a Red, manager David Bell took him out for defensive purposes. Immediately after the game, Castellanos was back out on the field having fly balls hit to him over and over and over. Bell has not taken him out of a game since and wisely so. He is no Roberto Clemente, but who is? He has made an abundance of outstanding plays and seldom messes up. He might even be in the running for a Gold Glove.
Q: Instead of carrying notes in their pocket on where to play defense on different hitters, why don’t baseball players use wrist bands the way NFL quarterbacks do? — PAT, Middletown.
A: Now that makes sense. Why don’t they? I don’t know. I do know I’ve seen outfielders pull those cards from their back pockets and stare at them when the pitcher is in his wind-up. A wrist band would enable the player to get his defensive directions with a quick glance at his wrist. Personally, I wish they would ban them. It’s just more computerized baseball.
Q: Jesse Winker is having a career year, but he has made several baserunning gaffes, so does manager David Bell get on him or let it slide because of the year Winker is having? — MIKE, New Carlisle.
A: Yes, Winker can be a stinker on the basepaths. Mostly, though, it is due to aggressiveness, or over-aggressiveness. Bell is not one to publicly castigate his players and talks about the positives. He says Winker’s Tomfoolery on the basepaths is done with the right intentions, to force issues. Privately, though, I suspect Bell politely tells him to tone it down a bit.
Q: Baseball always has been a sport where players wear their team’s uniforms in the All-Star game, but this year they are all wearing the same ‘All-Star’ uniforms, so what do you think? — DENNIS, Huber Heights.
A: Like you, I liked seeing players wear their team’s uniform. And I saw photos of what they are going to wear, and they look like something worn in a beer league. Ugly, ugly, ugly. It will be a great honor for Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker to wear them, but I’d wager they won’t look in the mirror would much rather wear their Cincinnati Reds home uniforms.
Q: If Nick Senzel could stay off the injured list for at least a minute, should the Reds trade him because they really don’t need him? — ED, Kettering.
A: The poor guy can’t seem to make a catch or run the bases without injuring himself. That alone would make him difficult to trade. Yes, the Reds are overstocked with outfielders and Jonathan India has a firm grip on second base. But a team never has enough depth and, when healthy, Senzel can play center field and any of the infield positions. When he can play, he shows promise and he is young and he is inexpensive. No, I wouldn’t trade him unless it was for a very good relief pitcher.
Q: What can the team do with Eugenio Suarez, who usually strikes out in big situations and hits home runs when they aren’t needed? — BONNIE, Ocean City, N.J.
A: The first thing I would do is give him the treatment they gave Joey Votto last season, bench him for a few games to let him watch and gather his wits because he isn’t gathering hits. He strikes out too often in crucial situations and hits a home run now and then. The worst thing he did was tell the world he wanted to hit 50 home runs this year. He should have said he wants to do whatever the team needs to help it win. That means fewer strikeouts and fewer errors.
Q: Can you explain some of the alphabet statistics I keep seeing and hearing like OBP, SLG, OPS, exit velocity and spin rate? — RON, Princeton, W.Va.
A: It is what spews out of a computer. OBP is on-base percentage, SLG is slugging percentage, OPS and on-base percentage plus slugging percentage added together, exit velocity is the speed the ball leaves the bat and spin rate is the revolutions per second a ball has when a pitcher delivers a pitch. There are many, many more they all make the spin rate of my head go up. There are two letters that man the most, W and L, and we all know what those mean.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Q: Wade Miley pitched eight great innings against the Minnesota Twins, then relief pitcher Tejay Antone gave up the tying run, and got credit for a victory, so where is the justice in that? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: Like crying, there is no justice in baseball. I’ve long felt that there are many fallacies in determining a winning pitcher. The official scorer should have latitude in awarding a win to the most effective and productive pitcher. In this case, Wade Miley. A pitcher who gives up the tying run, only to see his team score to take the lead in the next inning should never be awarded with a win. That’s why I never pay attention to a relief pitcher’s won-lost record. It is bad fiction.
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