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Post by reds4life1986 on Mar 1, 2015 1:37:58 GMT -5
Id like to see some emotion from the pen once in awhile. Do you mean Chapman? Chapman to me shows some emotion, he seems to be irratated on the mound sometimes when the catcher trys to give him a talk. i think lecure should be the bullpen leader in my opinion, he looks like a sean casey type/scott rolen, kinda like a cheerleader, get loud get vocal. I just wanna see what the giants do, theyre in the dugout before the game in a huddle while hunter pence screams his nutty ass off.
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Post by psuhistory on Mar 1, 2015 8:45:50 GMT -5
Chapman to me shows some emotion, he seems to be irratated on the mound sometimes when the catcher trys to give him a talk. i think lecure should be the bullpen leader in my opinion, he looks like a sean casey type/scott rolen, kinda like a cheerleader, get loud get vocal. I just wanna see what the giants do, theyre in the dugout before the game in a huddle while hunter pence screams his nutty ass off. I think Latos may have been the one who described LeCure as an oddball, in a complimentary way. I don't know what this means for his leadership potential, it does seem like he has the Ancient Mariner role among the relief pitchers...
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Post by tiberius3108 on Mar 1, 2015 11:39:35 GMT -5
Reds have three televised games this week: Tuesday, March 3rd: Reds vs Cleveland, MLBNetwork (delay), delayed until (at least) 4pm. -Jason Marquis Wednesday, March 4th: Reds @ Cleveland, FSN-OH (live) at 3:05, MLBNetwork (delay), delayed until (at least) 4pm. -Anthony DeSclafani Thursday, March 5: Reds vs Cleveland, FSN-OH (live) at 3:05, also listed as MLBNetwork (delay) but not scheduled for broadcast until 6am the next morning. -Johnny Cueto March 6: Cingrani, but not broadcast March 7: Leake, but not broadcast I wonder if they'll announce who (else) is pitching in advance. For spring training games the guys I'm most used to seeing - LeCure, Chapman, Cueto, Leake, and so on - are the ones I want to see the least. I'm going to try hard to catch DeSclafani's start, since I never saw him before. Hopefully I can get home from work on Wednesday right around the time Marquis leaves the game. Friday morning I'll try to catch as much Reds baseball as I can before work. 6am-7:30am is a great time for watching baseball. MLB TV offers all spring training games for free.
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Post by psuhistory on Mar 1, 2015 12:03:23 GMT -5
Now he's just throwing it in our faces...
Price: Zack Cozart Is Reds' Starting SS C. Trent Rosecrans, Enquirer, 3/1/2015
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Zack Cozart is the Reds' starting shortstop, and there is no competition at the position this spring, manager Bryan Price said Saturday.
Cozart is coming off of a terrible offensive season, hitting just .221/.268/.300 in 2014, and the team acquired 23-year-old Eugenio Suarez in a trade with the Tigers. Suarez played 85 games at shortstop for the Tigers last season, hitting .242/.316/.336.
But Suarez, Price insisted, is not competition for the incumbent.
"I like Zack Cozart as our shortstop. I do. What we did with Eugenio is we went out and got the two best players we would be able to get in the (Alfredo) Simon trade," Price said of the trade that brought Suarez and former first-rounder Jonathon Crawford to Cincinnati. "We look at him as an outstanding defensive player, which is the primary concern with a shortstop, the defensive aspect of the position. And we felt that he had a lot of room to grow as an offensive player."
Added Price, "If you talk about the football draft, some people will draft for position, and some people will draft to get the best player. We felt like we were going after the the best player. We have to have depth. If there's a way for him to fit on our ball club in a different role, then so be it."
In six seasons in the minors, Suarez is a career .278/.362/.415 hitter. In 54 games between Double-A and Triple-A in 2014, Suarez hit .285/.360/.510 with eight home runs. It should also be noted that Cozart was a .270/.332/.421 hitter in his five minor-league seasons.
Suarez is still very much a prospect more than a regular in the big leagues. Last season, he played in just 12 games in Triple-A before being promoted to Detroit to replace an ineffective Andrew Romine, himself a fill-in for Jose Iglesias, who missed all of 2014 with stress fractures in both of his legs.
Suarez had a hot start with the Tigers, hitting .279/.324/.485 with three home runs in June (80 plate appearances), hitting all three homers in his first eight games. From July 1 to the end of the season (197 plate appearances), he hit .227/.297/.278 with one home run. While talented, he still has room to grow.
"I'd like him to be playing everyday," Price said. "I don't think we traded for him to be a utility infielder for us. We traded for him to be a player. I don't think we have to go any further than that in regards to creating a Suarez-Cozart competition. I'm very happy with what Zack provides."
Not that anyone was happy with Cozart's offensive production in 2014. While playing Gold Glove-caliber defense, his offense was at an all-time low, something that gnawed at the 29-year-old shortstop.
As soon as the season was over, Cozart said he started watching video of his swing. He then watched more and more video.
On his computer was 2014 Zack Cozart — a .221 hitter with four home runs and 18 doubles — and on his iPad was the guy from the two seasons before, hitting .250 with an average of 13.5 homers and 31.5 doubles a year.
"It's probably the first time I started getting into looking at stuff that early. I usually take some time off, but there was some stuff that needed to be fixed," Cozart said. "And I found it."
What Cozart noticed in the two videos was the placement of his hands in 2014 — closer to the plate — not cocked back and ready, like he'd been previously. That change in where his hands were might have been a way to compensate to get to the ball quicker, but it sapped his power. He could tell; before 2014 his hands were in one place, during 2014 another. It was consistent — he looked at video from home games, just to make sure the camera angle was consistent. Time and time again, it was there.
He then looked at video of other offensive players he admired like Joey Votto, Todd Frazier, Yadier Molina and more. He saw a similar cocking mechanism in all their swings. Then, he worked hard at getting back.
"I've already had really good conversations with (hitting coach) Don (Long), and we're on the same page," Cozart said. "It's been really good in the cage and at batting practice. I've been a lot more fluid than before than the past."
Not only were the rate stats down — the batting average, the on-base percentage — but Cozart wasn't hitting the ball as hard. He noticed the power wasn't there. In the past, he had power, hitting 15 home runs in 2013 and adding at least 30 doubles in each of his previous full seasons. That was gone in 2014. He managed just 27 extra-base hits all season.
"I know how good I can be offensively, so it is frustrating to look back on a year like that. At the end of the day, it happened," Cozart said. "I'm going to make last year make me stronger mentally. Because I had it as bad as I can have it. My power wasn't there, I wasn't consistently hitting anything. That's over with. It's a new season for me. I'm one of the guys on this team that I'm here to prove myself. I know the guys in this clubhouse know what I can do, but I want to prove to everybody else, I know I can hit. At the end of the day, that's all that matters, I believe in myself and I know last year is not me."
His manager believes that as well, in part, because Cozart still contributed to the team defensively. Even with his paucity of offensive contributions in 2014, Cozart had a 2.4 WAR season, according to Baseball-Reference.com on the strength of his defensive contributions. According to the the SABR Defensive Index, an aggregation of two defensive metrics distributed to voters in Gold Glove voting, Cozart was the best defensive shortstop in baseball, better even than Gold Glove-winner Andrelton Simmons of the Braves.
That defensive prowess, at perhaps the game's most important defensive position, is precisely why the Reds aren't giving up on Cozart.
As impressive as his overall play was, Price commended Cozart for not taking his offensive struggles onto the field.
"It's very challenging. As much as this is a physical game, it's a mental game. I think from a defensive standpoint Zack was outstanding. Sometimes where you can see the mental challenges is dropping your head between pitches. He is our most active infielders in terms of holding runners at second base and running pick plays, communicating with the pitcher and interacting with his teammates on the infield. He's our most engaged infielder in that regard. That really speaks to him separating himself defensively."
Many saw the trade of Suarez as a way to push Cozart — Reds general manager Walt Jocketty alluded to that as well when the trade was made, but the trade won't push Cozart. Cozart is already pushing himself.
"I saw the trade. I'm not worried about it, because I know what I'm doing on this team," he said. "I know that at the end of the day, this team knows I help this team win out there."
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Post by redsfanman on Mar 1, 2015 14:16:56 GMT -5
They've been insisting that Cozart is the starter ever since Suarez was acquired. Throwing it in our faces? Nothing new, no development. It seems likely that Suarez starts the season playing everyday in AAA. Maybe he'll seize the SS job later in the season, or take over once Cozart or Phillips get injured, but it's always seemed unlikely that that'd happen this spring.
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Post by psuhistory on Mar 1, 2015 14:36:48 GMT -5
At least he's not talking about the running game this year...
Price on Reds' Lineup: Players Need to Accept their Roles Reds Blog John Fay, Enquirer, 2/1/2015
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Reds manager Bryan Price was asked about his lineup this morning – and he danced around the question as he has all offseason.
While Price did not give a batting order, he did say players should accept their spot. That could be an issue, however, because someone with pretty good numbers on the back of his baseball card is going to have to hit seventh.
"We should have a dynamic offensive player hitting seventh," Price said. "At this point in time if we have concerns over who's hitting seventh or if they're going to having some hurt feelings, then we really don't have the pieces here that we want. We need guys to accept their roles and buy into it to give us the best chance to win."
The two givens about the lineup: Billy Hamilton is going to hit leadoff, and Zack Cozart is going to hit eighth. Second through seventh is TBA.
"These guys are sensitive," Price said. "Everyone wants to feel like where they hit in the order is appreciated. The thing is unfortunately it's not until your career is over that you learn how important it was to hit second or seventh or eighth in the lineup and what type of responsibilities and significant responsibilities there are based on where you hit in the order.
"Great teams are able to create runs in that bottom third of the order. We can't have throw-away innings because we're sitting seven, eight, nine. I think that's not going to be the case in large part because I think Zack Cozart is going to have a real bounce-back year."
The Reds open exhibition season Tuesday with a home game against Cleveland, but you won't likely see the Opening Day lineup for the regular season on a regular basis in spring.
"I have an idea of what I want to do already," Price said. "The thing about spring training, of course, is I don't want to have our lineup together every day. Because we're probably going to the neighborhood of every other day and then two out of three as far as getting theses guys ready."
Spring training rules dictate that you play a certain number of regulars.
"But if I go with starting lineup – what I anticipate being our starting lineup – every other day, it's hard to put together ... You need to have four to five major-league regulars who are going to be on the team on any given day in spring training.
"So I've got to split our players up a little bit. It won't be until the backend of spring training when the guys are playing every day that I really have to solidify a lineup that we'll have for the season. So you'll see guys hitting in different spots in the order, especially early – the first half, two-thirds – of the spring training season."
As for spring games affecting the regular season lineup?
"I have an idea of what I'd like to do," Price said. "We've got to go out there and play and make sure we're healthy before I get too far into talking about Opening Day."
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Post by redsfanman on Mar 1, 2015 20:31:13 GMT -5
MLB TV offers all spring training games for free. For free WITH a paid subscription, I believe. If you can show me where I can get MLBtv for free I'd really appreciate it...
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Post by redsfanman on Mar 2, 2015 11:02:37 GMT -5
C. Trent Rosecrans @ctrent · 35m 35 minutes ago #Reds pitchers for 3/3 vs. Cle: Marquis, Sampson, Hoover, Adcock, Villarreal, Corcino, Magill. Dennick, Contreras are backups -------------------------- Marquis? Pass. Sampson? I'd like to see him, I've only read about him. Throwing strikes might be a big deal. Adcock? I'd like to see him. Villarreal? Pass, seen him plenty. Corcino? I'd like to see him, particularly whether or not he's throwing strikes. Magill? I'd like to see him, like Sampson and Adcock I've only read about him. Price singled him out for praise, I thought.
Dennick, pass. Top DFA candidate. Contreras, probably won't pitch but I'd like to see him again.
EDIT: Reds also announced the Tuesday March 3 lineup and backup... with guys I'm actually interested in seeing bold-faced: 1. CF Billy Hamilton (Skip Schumaker) 2. 2b Brandon Phillips (Irving Falu) 3. 3b Todd Frazier (Kristopher Negron) 4. C Devin Mesoraco (Kyle Skipworth) 5. LF Marlon Byrd (Jesse Winker) 6. RF Jay Bruce (Brennan Boesch) 7. SS Zack Cozart (Eugenio Suarez) 8. DH Donald Lutz (Kyle Waldrop) 9. 1b Josh Satin (Chris Dominguez)
The old 7th hitting no-hit shortstop trick. Trying to keep the Indians off-balance with an 8 hitting DH and 9 hitting 1b.
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Post by redsfanman on Mar 2, 2015 11:30:09 GMT -5
C. Trent Rosecrans @ctrent · 7m 7 minutes ago
A reminder as Cactus League games begin on Tuesday: Roger Bernadina had an OPS of 1.257 last spring for #Red ----------- Top hitters last spring included Skip Schumaker (15/34, .441 average, .500 OBP), Roger Bernadina (19/46, .413 average, .518 OBP, 3 HR), and Neftali Soto (18/47, .383 average, .396 OBP, 5 2b, 3 HR).
Chris Heisey led the team with 6 homeruns, going 18/58 (.310 average, .322 OBP), Brandon Phillips was second with 5 homeruns (11/53, .208 average, .288 OBP). They both hit 8 in the regular season.
Homer Bailey led the starters last spring with an ERA of 4.00 over 3 starts. Cueto (4.61), Simon (4.63), Cingrani (4.81), and Leake (6.92) did a little worse than in the regular season. Just a little. Chapman (4.22 ERA) and Sam LeCure (7.00 ERA in 9 innings) had particularly unusual numbers out of the bullpen.
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Post by psuhistory on Mar 2, 2015 11:39:18 GMT -5
Chapman was hit in the face, anything is better...
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Post by redsfanman on Mar 2, 2015 12:11:55 GMT -5
Chapman was hit in the face, anything is better... I don't recall the timing, but didn't he get hit in the face AFTER pitching those innings, then get shut down until a few weeks into the season? When Chapman was in recovery Latos was probably booing him for sleeping.
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Post by The Duke on Mar 2, 2015 13:25:38 GMT -5
Hamilton Votto Frazier Bruce Byrd Mesoraco Phillips Cozart Pitcher
That's my lineup if given carte blanche
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Post by redsfanman on Mar 2, 2015 13:44:43 GMT -5
Hamilton (S) Frazier (R) Votto (L) Mesoraco (R) Bruce (L) Byrd (R) Phillips (R) Cozart (R) Pitcher
That's my lineup of choice. I like Votto hitting 3rd more than second. I like Mesoraco hitting ahead of Bruce and Byrd.
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Post by tiberius3108 on Mar 2, 2015 14:09:00 GMT -5
MLB TV offers all spring training games for free. For free WITH a paid subscription, I believe. If you can show me where I can get MLBtv for free I'd really appreciate it... My fault, i had called mlbtv and asked about it, the guy I talked to the first time didn't clarify that I had to by the full package, he simply said it was free for ST games. I just called back and asked for clarification and the girl I talked to said you do indeed have to buy the package. I am still thinking about getting it, I am really tire of getting ripped off by cable/satellite companies. If only espn would put out an app for tv the way the mlb has......
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Post by tiberius3108 on Mar 2, 2015 14:11:12 GMT -5
Hamilton (S) Frazier (R) Votto (L) Mesoraco (R) Bruce (L) Byrd (R) Phillips (R) Cozart (R) Pitcher That's my lineup of choice. I like Votto hitting 3rd more than second. I like Mesoraco hitting ahead of Bruce and Byrd. I still like this Hamilton Phillips Votto Frasier Bruce Mesoraco/Byrd Byrd/Mesoraco Cozart Pitcher
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