Possible moves in rotation a mystery

[missionhockey21]

Possible moves in rotation a mystery
Reds notebook

By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

NEW YORK - The official word on the pitching rotation is: Stay tuned.

Reds manager Dave Miley was noncommittal when asked whether Elizardo Ramirez would get another start.

"It's a matter of how it plays out with the off day," Miley said. "(Ramirez) pitched well."

Ramirez, a 22-year-old right-hander, started Sunday's game because Brandon Claussen was unable to after spraining his left ankle in his last start.

Claussen threw an eight-minute bullpen session Monday and reported the ankle fine.

"It feels good," Claussen said. "I'm ready to go."

So the Reds could start him on Friday. But given the way Ramirez threw - six innings, two runs - there's a good chance he'll get the start and Claussen will go to the bullpen.

The Reds have been operating with only one left-hander out of the bullpen.

The Reds also have one pitcher too many on the roster. Ramirez took Rich Aurilia's spot because the Reds thought Claussen might not be able to pitch.

Wily Mo Pena is eligible to come off the disabled list Friday.

Here's what is likely to happen if Pena comes off: Ramirez starts Friday, Claussen goes to the bullpen and Todd Coffey gets optioned to Louisville.

Claussen's health could change those plans. While he was OK throwing, he has not run.

"He's had no stiffness, no soreness," trainer Mark Mann said. "He's going to run (today) and do some light agility drills.

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[Wally Mo Pena]

are they going to do anything about wilson? I hate that they never say anything. It's such a huge elephant in the room right now, someone has to adress it. Last night was a good start for wilson and he STILL gave up more runs than innings pitched. If we are moving the rotation around, why won't someone mention wht's going on with Paul!?

We can't afford to keep sending Paul Wilson and Eric Milton out to get slaughtered. Until they figure something out with them our rotation should be Harang, Claussen, Ramirez, Ortiz, and a swing starter when we need a fifth.

Send coffey down and belisle, call up nelson, and get this straight.

[redsrbetter]

Nice Wally. Wilson should be the one getting the articles written about right now. Why on Earth is anyone else even thinking about writing something else? This is the biggest concern for this team, and people are talking about Ramirez taking Claussen's spot? Makes no sense to me. It is getting old and I am tired of management not addressing the really pressing issues.

[Wally Mo Pena]

I know, i'm feeling bad for claussen right now. He's fought for his spot in the rotation, battled back from injuries and he's only really had one bad start. without that one start he'd have an ERA of 2.03. How can they be talking about giving up on him (he's also the youth here right? youth movement right?) and looking the other way with paul and milton? I don't get it.

Also...

In other injury news, the lengthy process of getting back into shape continues for right-handers Luke Hudson (shoulder) and Josh Hancock (groin).

Hudson threw a 60-pitch simulated game Sunday in Sarasota and reported no problems, but the Reds want to work his pitch count up higher before they turn him loose on an official rehab assignment. The same goes for Hancock, who will throw a simulated game of about 75 pitches later this week.

[redsrbetter]

They are dragging this process along because they do not know what they want to do yet. Just a feeling I am getting, but probably is not true. I hope they can come in soon, because there shouldn't be any doubt that Wilson needs to be replaced for a while.

[CincyRedsFan30]

It's only a mystery when Dan O'Brien is your GM. I dislike him more by the day.

[Sea Ray]

To me it seems to be a no brainer to put Wilson in long/middle relief. Part of his problem this year has been after seeing a him a time or two the opposition starts hammering him. Well, our relief corps is in as bad a shape as the starters. If he can contribute to the bullpen effort for awhile fine! I think relief is where he should be for now and he's probably better there than Coffey, Weber and some of the others we've tried there.

[NFLman2033]

It's only a mystery when Dan O'Brien is your GM. I dislike him more by the day.

I'm finding that there are only few people i like in the entire organization, and they are pretty few and far between

[Wally Mo Pena]

To me it seems to be a no brainer to put Wilson in long/middle relief. Part of his problem this year has been after seeing a him a time or two the opposition starts hammering him. Well, our relief corps is in as bad a shape as the starters. If he can contribute to the bullpen effort for awhile fine! I think relief is where he should be for now and he's probably better there than Coffey, Weber and some of the others we've tried there.

i won't disagree that i think a change of scenary would help paul, be that the dl, the minors, or the pen. BUt i think if you go back and look at paul's games this year, you'll see that his problem really hasn't been going deep, it's been going at all. In the past paul got hit hard the third time through a lineup, but this year he's just off, all game every game. He gets hit in the first, the second, whenever. I don't think the problem is stamina.

Consider these numbers. Through his starts this season, Paul wilson has given up:
12 runs in the first inning
20 runs in the first three innings
21 runs in the 4th-6th innings
3 runs in his first 15 pitches
17 runs in pitches 16-30
3 runs in pitches 31-45
9 runs in pitches 46-60
and only 9 more runs in pitches 61-105 when he's made it that far.

Now that one super-meltdown does skew these somewhat, but it seems like paul's worst trouble comes in the 2nd-4th innings.

[redsrbetter]

Great stats man. I was thinking that he has pretty much sucked all year too. Everyone has him figured out.