The Cubs aren't the only NL Central team that's scuffling early on. The Reds were a somewhat populat favorite to win the central this year with Pujols gone and Carpenter hurt in St. Louis. However, their offense hasn't seemed to wake up yet. Aside from Joey Votto (obviously) and Zack Cosart (who?) their regulars have all posted sub .300 wOBA numbers. New SP acquisition Mat Latos has struggled, and new closer Ryan Madson was knocked out for the year with elbow problems before the season even started. They beat Miami in their opening series but then dropped three straight series to the Cardinals and Nationals, avoiding the sweep in the last day of each of them.
Team Overviews
This year's stats, and NL Rank
| Reds | Cubs | |
| wOBA | .265 (15th) | .275 (13th) |
| BSR | 0.7 (6th) | 0.8 (5th) |
| UZR | 0.5 (8th) | 3.9 (3rd) |
| DRS | -1 (6th) | -2 (7th) |
| SP FIP | 4.42 (14th) | 3.70 (5th) |
| RP FIP | 3.52 (6th) | 4.96 (16th….by a mile) |
Lineups
Updated ZiPS projections
| Reds | wOBA | wOBA | Cubs |
| SS Zack Cozart | .312 | .329 | RF David DeJesus |
| CF Drew Stubbs | .313 | .293 | 2B Darwin Barney |
| 1B Joey Votto | .397 | .338 | SS Starlin Castro |
| 2B Brandon Phillips | .328 | .313 | LF Alfonso Soriano |
| RF Jay Bruce | .341 | .311 | 3B Ian Stewart |
| LF Ryan Ludwick | .327 | .344 | 1B Bryan LaHair |
| 3B Scott Rolen | .320 | .329 | C Geovany Soto |
| C Ryan Hanigan | .306 | .308 | CF Marlon Byrd |
Injuries
Aside from Ryan Madson being done for the year, the Reds bullpen is also missing Nick Masset. He's out with shoulder inflammation and was supposed to start throwing again last week, but it hasn't gone away just yet. They're also missing Dusty's current iteration of Jose Macias, Miguel Cairo, to a hamstring injury.
Probable pitchers
ERA, FIP, xFIP, and ZiPS FIP listed
Friday: Homer Bailey, RHP (5.40, 6.74, 4.94, 4.12) vs Chris Volstad, RHP (4.91, 2.88, 3.46, 4.44), 1:20 PM CT
Typically when I see a big split between a pitcher's numbers and their projections this early in the season, I figure it's mostly just bad luck, but Bailey hasn't had much bad luck on balls in play, he just hasn't been able to find the plate. He's walked seven batters in just under twelve innings in his two starts. He has had some bad HR luck which makes those walks hurt even more. Obviously it's just two starts, but the main thing that turned him into a decent pitcher over the last two years was the big drop in his walk rate over the past two seasons.
I was surprised to see Volstad's FIP sitting so low. If you look at all of his stats other than his ERA it looks like he's had a solid start to the year. He hasn't managed to get many groundballs relative to his past performance, but he's been striking more batters out and not giving many free passes. Teams just seem to be bunching up on him, scoring-wise.
Saturday: Mike Leake, RHP (5.84, 5.48, 4.27, 4.41) vs Paul Maholm, LHP (13.50, 9.47, 7.01, 4.12), 12:05 PM CT
Maholm has looked awful in his first starts, failing to get ground balls and giving up HRs. His strikout rate is down, but that's not really what he does anyway. He needs to get that sinker working right quick.
Leake has also struggled with HRs to start the year, and he's also struggled to strike anyone out (he has a lower K rate than Maholm!). Neither of these guys are big strikeout pitchers but it's a bigger drop in Leake's case. His sinker seems to be working just fine though – he got fourteen ground balls in six innings in his last start. This could be an especially ugly matchup of two struggling pitch to contact pitchers.
Sunday: Johnny Cueto, RHP (1.89, 4.02, 4.33, 3.82) vs Ryan Dempster, RHP (1.33, 2.53, 2.97, 3.93), 1:20 PM CT
I always think Cueto is a very different pitcher than he is. I remember him as a big strikeout guy when he came up, but his strikeout rates have been in the pedestrian 6-7 K/9 range over the past few seasons. He's been a flyball pitcher for most of his career, but last year his GB% shot up by ten points. His three starts so far this year are a lot closer to his pre-2011 batted ball numbers so it's probably just a relatively large fluke.
Dempster has been great in three starts so far this year but has nothing to show for it, thanks to the Cubs anemic offense. Dempster has had some batted ball luck but the rest of his numbers are solid. He struck out eight in six innings in his last start.
Prediction
The Reds are scuffling and the Cubs are just what the doctor ordered. I think the Cubs win the last game to just avoid the sweep. It's a good thing Bronson Arroyo isn't starting this series, it would make this year that much mroe frustrating to see him throw 8 innings of shutout junkballing against the Cubs.
Comments
Shitty in Chicago, we’ll see when/if the game is played.
MishQuote Reply
But technically not eliminated? That means I have to try to remember to watch another game. Didn’t they get down 3-1 last season and nearly pull it off?
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
I thought they were down 3-0 and almost came all the way back against the Canucks.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-43-greatest-unsolved-mysteries-in-life
MishQuote Reply
@ Mish:
The predictions are low probability for rain once the morning is over. So hopefully they get a game in.
joshQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
It was something like that. I can’t remember the details.
joshQuote Reply
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/20/cubs-in-no-hurry-to-call-up-top-prospects-anthony-rizzo-and-brett-jackson/
MishQuote Reply
@ Mish:
Seems like they’re leaving open the possibility that they’d forget about service time considerations but still are okay with leaving them down because of a couple of convenient excuses (Brett Jackson’s contact issues, Lahair not sucking).
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mish:
I really only want them up here for selfish reasons, i.e. I ‘m tired watching Reed Mantle and Babe Baker look incompetent. But I’m fine with the Cubs taking their time here. Jackson’s K-rate is sitting at 29% after posting a 27% K-rate last year between AA and AAA, and given Rizzo’s struggles in his short stint last season, it’s probably best to make sure he’s back into a good groove for an extended period of time before calling him up.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Wood ————-> DL
joshQuote Reply
josh wrote:
For the first time in his career, right?
WenningtonsGorillaCockQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I agree. I know 424 likes to dismiss the whole service-time argument because the Cubs should be able to afford buying out their peak years when it comes to it (which I do understand), but given how far this team is away from contention, I’d rather get that extra year if possible. It’s not like moving Byrd or anything now is going to do this organization any good.
But yeah, otherwise. I want to see them up because Cubs baseball is about as fun as stabbing my eyes out with a screwdriver.
MishQuote Reply
@ josh:
Water ———> Wet
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
http://www.fieldofschemes.com/news/archives/2012/04/4911_chicago_suntime.html
MishQuote Reply
josh wrote:
False.
GBTSQuote Reply
Dempster —> questionable for Sunday, right quad.
MishQuote Reply
@ WenningtonsGorillaCock:
I’ll have to check a few sources on that, but I believe this is incorrect.
joshQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
No, this is the series they turn it all around and make us look like assholes. I can feel it.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
Muskat says 16th time.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube: i honestly would have guessed more. i would have said 14 years X 1.5 DL stints per year = 21 trips minimum
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ Mish:
Gumby had me (dying laughing)
MuckerQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
MishQuote Reply
Sorry, bubbles:
GBTSQuote Reply
About Rizzo, Goldstein said his swing has shortened. I’m sure they are going to keep him down to repeat his swing for awhile before feeding him to the dogs.
jtsunamiQuote Reply
Mish wrote:
This always bothers me. Al is especially awful about doing this (sorry, Mish). Not only is it way before the game start time, but you’d need something like 4 hours of near continuous rain for them to postpone it, especially for a day game.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
There isn’t clear scientific consensus on that one. Clearly your school did not Teach the Controversy
BerseliusQuote Reply
Hey B, it’s your neighbor at #17.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/people-you-wish-you-knew-in-real-life
Now there’s a face to go with the name.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
My weather app said it would rain. Whatever. (dying laughing)
MishQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Just completely not necesarry…
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
personal service deals and milestone bonus ——–> extinct
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/04/no-more-personal-service-deals-or-milestone-bonuses.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook
WenningtonsGorillaCockQuote Reply
http://groundballwitheyes.blogspot.com/2012/04/maddux.html
MishQuote Reply
This team is going to lose a real lottttt
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
I’m a Popperian.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
I say 95, minimum.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeUrIA64ZOI
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ josh:
That’s what Wikipedia says, and Wikipedia is never wrong.
Also…those Pacific Division teams are deceptively good, even if some of them might play dirty.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I see 100… I wonder what mr. epstein told mr. ricketts when he interviewed. I wonder if he said there is a legit chance we lose 100. I assume any owner would ask him to forecast scenarios..
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
Game thread up
http://obstructedview.net/games/reds-at-cubs-game-thread-4-20.html
BerseliusQuote Reply