Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Y! MyWebREDS NOTES
Arroyo has a plan to cure his team's ills
Friday, August 22, 2008
CHICAGO — Bronson Arroyo's plan is simple in explanation but probably difficult in execution: How to quickly fix what ails the Cincinnati Reds.
Arroyo, with his contract, figures to be a mainstay on the pitching staff in the near future and has an idea of how to make the team more functional.
"The pitching staff is solid enough to win plenty of ballgames," he said. "We really need a starting catcher — unless they are going to go with Ryan Hanigan, and I haven't seen him enough. We need a solid guy you can run out there five days a week, a guy who can hit a little bit, a regular guy instead of dividing it up between a couple of guys.
"We're going to need two other guys who can hit, probably outfielders," Arroyo said. "Our infield is decently set if (shortstop) Alex Gonzalez comes back. So we need a couple of outfielders to replace those home runs we lost (Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr.).
"We just need a lineup, from top to bottom, that feels the same when we pitch against the other team's lineup, so we don't have as many weak spots," Arroyo added. "I mean, with the Cubs, I'm facing a seven-hole hitter like Mark DeRosa, who hits .280. That's the feeling we need to project to other teams."
DeRosa had two of the three hits Arroyo gave up in seven innings Wednesday, Aug. 20, in a 2-1 win. And Hanigan was Arroyo's catcher, contributing a double that led to the Reds tying the game 1-1 in the sixth.
"We have enough right now in our starting staff and bullpen to win this division, for sure," Arroyo said.
Pillow talk
Aaron Harang, skipped Thursday due to neck spasms, says he is OK to pitch tonight in Denver "after visiting a chiropractor two days in a row," he said.
"Woke up with it Tuesday morning after sleeping on one of those darned soft hotel pillows."
E.D. on pitching
Former star outfielder Eric Davis left after a three-day stop in Wrigley Field as Baker's special invited guest/coach, and he had some more words of wisdom.
The common accepted theory about major-league pitching these days is that it is watered down — too many teams, too many pitchers who still belong in Triple-A (and Double-A in some cases).
"I don't think pitching is watered down," he said. "It is just that they don't know what they're doing out there, what pitch to throw, what to do on an 0-and-2 pitch — try to trick 'em instead of going right at them.
"Also pitchers are told to try to pitch to the hitter's weakness instead of staying with their own strength," Davis added. "They're told a hitter is weak if you go hard inside, but the pitcher's strength isn't throwing hard inside. Do you think Nolan Ryan pitched to a hitter's weakness or stayed with his strength?"
Only two hits?
Reds manager Dusty Baker loves Pete Rose and remembers when Rose once came up to him and asked, "How many hits you gonna get today, kid?"
Said Baker, "Two-for-four," and Rose said, "What? You're going to waste two at-bats?"
Baker laughed at the memory and said, "I guess that's why Pete has twice as many hits as me."
Quote of the Day
"I get nervous when Aaron Miles comes up in our ballpark." — pitching coach Dick Pole, talking about the ease with which batters hit homer runs in Great American Ball Park, and the fact that Miles of the Cardinals has only three homers in 308 at-bats.
