What the heck is going on?

[Slyder]

One thing I don't get is why do people put Dunn on a taller pedastal than Hatteberg? Are the HRs that great? Hatteberg has been an OBP machine his entire career and his OPS hasn't been bad either. But people are so quick to want to get rid of Hatteberg and not Dunn.

Because "Chicks dig the long ball" and Dunn is home grown.

[Doppelgänger]

One thing I don't get is why do people put Dunn on a taller pedastal than Hatteberg? Are the HRs that great? Hatteberg has been an OBP machine his entire career and his OPS hasn't been bad either. But people are so quick to want to get rid of Hatteberg and not Dunn.

This mainly has to do with age. Hatte is 10 years older than Dunn and doesn't have a future or upside. We also have a better player in the same position with tons of potential in the case of Hatte.

[redsrbetter]

Agreed for sure, but Hatteberg and Dunn weren't in the same conversation before Votto was ever in the picture.

To me this is the biggest matter of placing batting average (Hatteberg) vs. slugging percentage (Dunn). Both bring value to a team in different ways, but why are they judged so differently?

[CincyRedsFan30]

Wow, so much over-analysis going on here and on other forums.

The offense DOES have glaring issues, and Krivsky should be blamed for them. He built the team. Fortunately we have Jocketty now, who finds players who just get it done when it counts (look at the Cards' current lineup as evidence).

I highly doubt Dusty has caused the hitters to play poorly. Dunn's gotten on base. He just hasn't acquired bases through Doubles and Home Runs (until tonight).

And honestly the lineup order would be much less important if Krivsky had done a better job of tinkering with it rather than soley focusing on the pitching (which he certainly has improved, but not enough to make up for the offense).

Dusty likes players to play aggressive in certain situations. Jocketty has acquired those players in the past. Sounds like a solid match to me.

Jocketty and Dusty will build THEIR team.

Then we can be a good team like the Cards are and have been and the Giants and Cubs were.

[redsrbetter]

How long will that take CRF? I have confidence in Jocketty as well, but do we have any reason to believe that he is concentrating on this season?

[redsrbetter]

Yet another putrid offensive performance. Many are feeling sorry for Harang, but I feel sorry for the entire pitching staff. This offense is incredibly bad now.

I don't think this team can legitimately move forward without making some changes outside of lineup construction. God awful!

[missionhockey21]

I think the better question to ask is when did this team become such free swingers? They go up there and act as if they will lose their chance to bat if they don't swing on the first pitch or two, no matter how bad it is. It's kind of fitting with one certain coaches' philosophy...

[CincyRedsFan30]

It might not be until next year, but Jocketty will acquire lineups with the Chris Duncan's, Molina's, Kennedy's, etc. that are making the Cards' unit so solid. And he will get us underappreciated pitchers like Wellemeyer, Looper and Piniero.

As for Dusty: his "free-swinging" approach didn't hurt that Cubs team he got closer to the World Series than any other recent Cubs team. Same goes for those Giants teams he overachieved with.

The issue is the Reds don't have the PERSONNEL on offense to play Dusty's style. When they are aggressive they swing through the pitches. They aren't good situational and clutch hitters for the most part. They aren't "smart" hitters for the most part. I expect that to change.

And let's think about it: the main problem areas have been Griffey, Phillips and Dunn (Edwin, Votto and Bako have all been very good). Griffey's bat seems slow and he might be pressing to get 600 HR. Phillips we know has always swung at junk. And Dunn has walked a lot but simply hasn't acquired bases. Not seeing a Dusty "don't walk" philosophy here.

Of course I never bought the "arm killer" argument raised against him either, because I think other circumstances brought about those issues.

[Mr. D™]

Wow, so much over-analysis going on here and on other forums.

The offense DOES have glaring issues, and Krivsky should be blamed for them. He built the team. Fortunately we have Jocketty now, who finds players who just get it done when it counts (look at the Cards' current lineup as evidence).

I highly doubt Dusty has caused the hitters to play poorly. Dunn's gotten on base. He just hasn't acquired bases through Doubles and Home Runs (until tonight).

And honestly the lineup order would be much less important if Krivsky had done a better job of tinkering with it rather than soley focusing on the pitching (which he certainly has improved, but not enough to make up for the offense).

Dusty likes players to play aggressive in certain situations. Jocketty has acquired those players in the past. Sounds like a solid match to me.

Jocketty and Dusty will build THEIR team.

Then we can be a good team like the Cards are and have been and the Giants and Cubs were.

The Cards were such a great team last year

Stop praising those damn Cards nothing I hate more then the cardinals or the Giants man

anyways yeah we do suck right now it seems

I had high hopes this year and what has it given me so far

two good guys on pitching

Edinson Volquez, and Francisco Cordero

Harangatang is holding in there but the offense isn't helping him in wins and losses, and Bronson Arroyo don't get me started on that 1 year Wonder

We have little ray of hope but we can't even sweep one damn team, hell we got swept by the Damn PIRATES



unless we turn this ship around soon it won't go anywhere