Position players report; ST has officially started!

[redsrbetter]

CNati tweets:

Dusty said all the position players are here and accounted for -- as far as he knows right now

Its time to hear the crack of the bat! In honor of this day, I believe I will go and pick up one of the greatest hot dogs I have ever had. This thing is called a West Coast Dog. It has mustard, guacamole, sour cream, nacho cheese, and chili smothered over a Nathan's hot dog and placed in a pretzel bun.

Anyhow, enough of the grub talk. Today I plan on catching up from my neglect of MLB Hot Stove on MLB Network. I have last week's shows DVRd and I must catch up. I hope to see plenty of spring training coverage. This is going to be a fun spring I can already tell.

Welcome position players! I can't wait to see these guys in action.

[redsrbetter]

Early proposal for an everyday lineup:

Stubbs CF
Phillips 2B
Votto 1B
Rolen 3B
Bruce RF
Gomes LF
Hernandez C
Cabrera SS

What I think we will see:

Stubbs CF
Cabrera SS
Votto 1B
Phillips 2B
Rolen 3B
Bruce RF
Gomes/Dickerson LF
Hernandez C

[Slyder]

Early proposal for an everyday lineup:

Stubbs CF
Phillips 2B
Votto 1B
Rolen 3B
Bruce RF
Gomes LF
Hernandez C
Cabrera SS

What I think we will see:

Stubbs CF
Cabrera SS
Votto 1B
Phillips 2B
Rolen 3B
Bruce RF
Gomes/Dickerson LF
Hernandez C

I question whether either of those proposals are best use of the Reds resources. I dunno if Scott Rolen is really provides the type of protection for Joey Votto that we need. He is still a very smart hitter, but his power numbers have been on the decline since 2006. His back is a question and whether he'll be able to suit up for 140+ games. Especially vs LHP I would suggest:

Stubbs CF
Rolen 3b
Votto 1b
Phillips 2b
Gomes/Bruce LF/RF
Gomes/Bruce LF/RF
Cabrera SS
Hernandez/Hannigan Ca

This would play to Rolen's strengths (his head) and provide Votto with someone behind him who still has 20-30 HR potential that people would have to respect. Also give Stubbs a chance to see a guy working the count behind him and allowing him to see some looks and maybe open up the running game more.

I don't know what to do vs RHP but anyway you slice it were going to be weak without Bruce stepping up and being the man.

Dickerson/Stubbs CF
Rolen 3b
Votto 1b
Bruce RF
Nix/Baletien/Heisey LF
Phillips 2b
Cabrera SS
Hernandez/Hannigan Ca

[redsrbetter]

I think I would take an .823 OPS over a .776 OPS for my cleanup hitter. Yes, Phillips' 20 HR nearly double Rolen's 11. But this is just me. I am not sure I would worry about Rolen's inevitable injuries in the case of where to bat him in the lineup. Either way though, I don't think either of us are going to see what we think looks best.

[bcshorts]

Why wouldn't the Reds start Dickerson and have his career .383 OBP lead off? Last year in AAA Stubbs had a .355 OBP and a .323 in the majors. Dickerson hasn't had an OBP under .360 in the majors or minors since early 2007. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Obviously if Gomes gets to start in LF and they keep Stubbs in CF, this is moot..

[bcshorts]

Just to throw my thoughts in there, I'll take a shot at the lineup. I'm not a Reds fan by any means, but we get all the Reds games on cable at home, so I do watch a fair share of them. I might drop in every now and then and comment.. although strangely enough, I can't watch them at all at school here at Notre Dame because MLB.tv blacks them out here.. Crazy.

1. LF Dickerson
2. CF Stubbs
3. 1B Votto
4. RF Bruce
5. 2B Phillips
6. 3B Rolen
7. C Hernandez
8. SS Cabrera

Upon further review, I think Stubbs almost has to have a place at the top of the lineup. I still believe Dickerson would be a better leadoff hitter though. I just can't buy into the idea of Rolen hitting second, mainly because there would be no one left to hit sixth. If you put Dickerson/Rolen or Stubbs/Rolen at the top, the bottom of the lineup is just insanely weak. I toyed with the idea of batting Cabrera second, given his major league experience, but his terrible OBP just wouldn't work.

The alternative to this scenario is to replace Dickerson with Gomes and bat him sixth, thus allowing Rolen to bat second. However, I'm just not convinced that he would be better than Dickerson. Of course, Gomes, Dickerson, and Stubbs could all share playing time at the two positions and Rolen could alternate between hitting second and sixth depending on if Gomes gets the start or not. To be honest, I'm not sure how much people expect out of Stubbs. Not knowing this, I would even consider starting Dickerson at CF and Gomes at LF, which in reality might be the best bet. I like the look of that lineup the most, but I'm operating under the assumption that Stubbs will get a lot of playing time.

[Slyder]

I think I would take an .823 OPS over a .776 OPS for my cleanup hitter. Yes, Phillips' 20 HR nearly double Rolen's 11. But this is just me. I am not sure I would worry about Rolen's inevitable injuries in the case of where to bat him in the lineup. Either way though, I don't think either of us are going to see what we think looks best.

Phillips vs LHP last year: .301 ba, .342 obp, .541 slu, .883 ops 9 HRs, 26 RBI.
Phillips vs LHP last 3 yrs: .316 ba, .361 obp, .584 slug, .942 ops, 35 HRs, 92 RBI in ~1 season worth of abs.

Rolen vs LHP last year: .374 ba, .459 obp, .591 slug, 1.050 ops, 3 HRs, 11 RBI ~115 abs.
Rolen vs LHP last 3 yr: .280 Ba, .381 obp, .437 slug, .818 ops, 7 HRs, 34 RBI in 316 abs.

Which is more likely to repeat their previous season? My money would be on the younger Phillips. This isnt the same Scott Rolen that helped carry St. Louis to a world crown. Batting him cleanup does not play to his strengths. Phillips is far from perfect but he stands a better chance of putting up better numbers. This is moot if Jay Bruce comes to town and turns the corner.

Dickerson would make a nice complementary player except...
1 he struggles vs LHP
2 he's not a Duhhhster guy
3 he can't stay healthy
4 he's a CF, not a LF (he's nowhere close to the defender in LF that he is in CF)

Not saying I agree just stating whats believed to be the truth.

[Slyder]

1. LF Dickerson
2. CF Stubbs
3. 1B Votto
4. RF Bruce
5. 2B Phillips
6. 3B Rolen
7. C Hernandez
8. SS Cabrera

Upon further review, I think Stubbs almost has to have a place at the top of the lineup. I still believe Dickerson would be a better leadoff hitter though. I just can't buy into the idea of Rolen hitting second, mainly because there would be no one left to hit sixth. If you put Dickerson/Rolen or Stubbs/Rolen at the top, the bottom of the lineup is just insanely weak. I toyed with the idea of batting Cabrera second, given his major league experience, but his terrible OBP just wouldn't work.

You give your best hitters as many abs as you can. Even at the point he is. Rolen is still more certain than Dickerson at having a better year. Dickerson is a tweaner CF/4th of for good teams. His value diminishes if they put him in LF.

[redsrbetter]

Dusty Baker may not even know who he has in the system right now.

In our morning meeting, Baker started to talk about Ben Jukich, but didn't know he was taken in the Rule 5 draft by the Cardinals.

Likely a mistake and hopefully just a name he got mixed up with someone else. I wouldn't read too far into it, but it does make me scratch my head a bit.

And now another video from C Trent: BP! (Batting practice, not Brandon Phillips).

[redsrbetter]

Chapman is supposed to be facing live hitters today. Three Chris' (Burke, Heisey, Vailaika) and one Yonder (Alonso). This should be interesting. Chapman should be more than ready to go, and at the same time is likely working on things. These are not veteran hitters and at the same time, these hitters are only in their second day of work. The timing favors Chapman right now, so I hope he has a good showing.

[redsrbetter]

Chapman's session went well. I guess he dominated more or less. Heisey is said to be the only one to make solid contact off him, and it was only once. Chapman threw 30 total pitches to 5 hitters and locked them down.

[redsrbetter]

Volquez plays catch, pickles, and bp featuring Votto, Bruce, and BP among others.



I haven't looked it up but games should be starting in a few days, correct?