2007 Cincinnati Reds

[CaliBuck]

It all goes down here.

[Motown]

Ok Reds Fans, Here's some spring training photos of our beloved Reds courtesy of
robmadden1
ain't diggin' the BP hats AT ALL!
LMFAO...this is f@^%# hilarious...it's a photo comparison of Harang & Count Chocula...check it

And here's the NEW SLIMMED DOWN Adam Dunn w/ Hamilton


And more here

[SlimKibbles]

The resemblance between Harang-a-tang and Count Chocula is uncanny!

I've listened to the last couple of games on the radio (driving to and from Indy) and been impressed so far. Little discouraged by Homer Bailey's outing today but it was only his first start. What a gamble Josh Hamilton could turn out to be. Also, I thought Thom Brennaman and Jeff Brantley did a nice job with the Reds/Twins game on Saturday. JB sounded pretty good calling the game. It's going to be fun listening to games this season!

[joshuar9476]

the kool-aid is mighty potent this year. i see another 1990 esq season approaching. we will fly under the radar all year long until we're looking at everyone in our rear view mirror.

[hoosier_bengal]

I am also excited for the tv broadcast team(s). Brennaman is a natural talent, who has quickly become one of the best in the biz. Thank you Marty B. I have always liked Brantley in the booth as well.

[SlimKibbles]

Are the Reds just winning every spring game to get our hopes sky high?

[WTF]

I see a great season rolling around for us. Going to stay optimistic that my boy Griffey can stay healthy too

[SlimKibbles]

Quote: Originally Posted by WTF

I see a great season rolling around for us. Going to stay optimistic that my boy Griffey can stay healthy too

That would be very nice. You know, they do have some nice problems this spring training: too many quality players and not enough spots. They should break camp with a pretty competitive team. I'm not sure if it's one that can win the division but stranger things have happened.

[PhantomPain]

I am more excited for this season of Reds baseball than I have been in years...and this was even before spring started. I made mention in another thread that I think the Reds will be a suprising team this year. Of course, it is quite possible that they will do well for a few months and then after the all star break, fall apart as usual. But everything I have seen/heard so far sounds very promising.

I think the key factors will be pitching...will Harang and Arroyo continue their trend of getting better (I think/hope so). Will Lohse return to his freshman and sophomore years with the Twins? Will Belisle continue to pitch well into the season as he has so far this spring? I always have hope that Milton will be good, but to be honest I think he is just in the wrong park to be successful as he is a fly ball/long ball pitcher. And Wilson would be a great comeback story if he can pitch well but that remains to be seen. And of course you have Bailey, who will start out in AAA, but has a legitimate chance to be with the club in a couple of months if he is successful in AAA. Can't wait to see this kid be successful.

As for the players, the biggest question mark, although not the only one, will be Griffey as it is every year. If he can play 140 games this year it would mean the world to the Reds...and fans. The other question marks that are nearly as important are Dunn, Hamilton, Phillips and Encarnacion...IMO.

Dunn is working to become a better player in the field and at the plate and with Brook Jacoby as the new hitting coach (Dunn's hitting coach in AAA where Dunn batted over .300), good things can come. He has still struck out quite a bit this spring but is using the whole field and has over a .400 avg so far. I think the strike outs will always be there but if he can them down from 180+ to about 130, that would be an impressive improvement. I think he is still "re-learning" how to hit and some things probably aren't as natural to him yet, but that will come and hopefully help his avg, so's and rbi's. I don't care about the hr's because he will get 35+ without even trying.

Hamilton is a huge surprise this spring and could be the best pick up of the decade for them. He still has an uphill battle but he has shown why he was only the 2nd high school player to ever be taken as the #1 overall (other being A-Rod). He definitely has the talent, but will he be able to handle mlb pitching in mid-season (as opposed to spring training) and will he continue to battle his demons and be successful with that. I, for one, am rooting for him. I read that when he was drafted he was quoted as saying that he thought he would be in the minors for 3 years, the show for 15 years and then the Hall of Fame. And while that may sound arrogant, A) he was young and B) no one seemed to disagree....that's how much talent he had/has.

Phillips was one of the best prospects coming out of the the Tribes organization but he never fullfilled the assumption he would be an all star one day. He had some issues there which may have contributed and now that he is in Cincy, I haven't heard a single negative thing about him. Last year was kind of a break out year for Phillips and I hope this trend continues as he is excellent defensively and has pop to his bat.

And then there is Encarnacion. TONS of potential but he HAS to stop thinking on defense. I played 3rd base in high school and semi-pro, and I had a rough patch where I started thinking too much and made a lot of the same type errors that he has so I can sympathize. It seems nearly impossible to come out of that but it isn't and hopefully he can get over this hump as that is one of the only things holding this kid back. It does amaze me though that someone can play at the major league level, take 10's of thousands of groundballs over the course of a lifetime (up to age 25-26) and still make as many errors as he and others do. But I like him and really hope he can settle down in the field and continue to get better at the plate.

These aren't the only questions I see for the Reds. Another HUGE one would be the closer spot. I just don't know what to think about it right now. I would love to see someone step up and be a great closer as I don't see Weathers getting the job done 20+ times. But the Reds, as was pointed out another post above, have more quality players this year than they have spots available. This is certainly a very good thing. If someone is struggling they can be sent down to work on things while another quality player is called up and hopefully they don't miss a beat. I also like David Ross as a full time catcher. The kid can be clutch and is young and it seems like he can only get better.

Ok, sorry for the long rant. As you can see I am very excited about this season and I hope this winning in spring continues on to the season. I do know that, while it is only spring training and pitchers are no where near what they are in the season, it is much more fun to see them winning than losing.

Good luck Reds and Reds fans, it should be an interesting season.

[SlimKibbles]

Wow, thanks for the insight, phantom. You bring up some good points. I really hope Griffey has a great year. I remember how excited I was when the rumors were floating around that they were going to trade for him. I'm still a big Junior fan and want him to have success here. It would be great to see him help the team to the playoffs this season.

I'll be interested to see how the bullpen is handled this season. I still don't think they really have a closer, like you said. They did bring on Mike Stanton, who will be nice to have. If Majewski is healthy and can get back to pitching like he did before the Baseball World Cup, or whatever that was (I've forgotten the name - shows how interested I was in it), when he got injured, he'd be a big help.

I'm looking forward to the season as well. I'm keeping my expectations somewhat low but I'll be disappointed if they don't improve some over last season. Krivsky is about at the point where he has his type of players here. We'll see if they can keep improving the results.