Monday, January 21, 2008

A Look at the 2008 Cincinnati Reds- Starters


If you haven't noticed by now, my favorite team is the Reds. As a Reds fan, I kind of have to speculate as to their upcoming season. First off I'll look at each position, here goes:

Starting Pitching-

1. Ace Aaron Harang is among the most underrated and under appreciated players in a ll of baseball. He has quite a lengthy list of noteworthy achievements including:
* NL Wins Leader (2006)
* NL Strikeouts Leader (2006)
* NL Complete Games Leader (2006)
* 15 Wins Seasons: 2 (2006 & 2007)
* 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 3 (2005-2007)
* 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 2 (2006 & 2007)

Harang finished with a lower WHIP than 5 Cy Young award vote-getters including Carlos Zambrano, Brandon Webb, and Brad Penny. With 231.7 IP, only Brandon Webb threw more innings than Harang.

2. Bronson Arroyo- Arroyo finished 7th in IP last year, adding to his reputation as a workhorse. He also started 34 games, only one less than Dontrelle Willis, who led the league. Apart from those stats, Arroyo's 2007 season was less than impressing. Look back however to 2006 when Arroyo finished 23rd in MVP voting, only one place lower than 2007 MVP Jimmy Rollins. In 2006, Arroyo had an ERA of 3.29, good for 4th in the league. He also led the league in IP, throwing 3 complete games, and finished 6th in strikeouts.

The 3,4 and 5 spots are largely undecided and between the following pitchers:

Matt Belisle
Homer Bailey
Edinson Volquez
Jeremy Affeldt
Johnny Cueto
Bobby Livingston
Tom Shearn

Here's my thoughts:

3. Matt Belisle- He's got the best shot of those 7 at starting. Belisle went 8-9 in 30 games last year with a 4.85 ERA and should be able to improve slightly upon those already acceptable numbers this year.

4 and 5 Spots:

These are the spots that are still pretty much up for grabs. As of Opening Day, I'd expect Reds super-prospect Homer Bailey to take up one of those spots. He's a top ten prospect and should develop into a strong talent.

Johnny Cueto will likely start in AAA, although many people believe he is going to be better than Homer Bailey. I personally believe Bailey will have a more successful career.

Bobby Livingstone is still recovering from a surgery.

My favorite off the bat for the 5 spot as of now is Edinson Volquez. This is the pitcher the Reds acquired from the Rangers in exchange for Josh Hamilton.

Jeremy Affeldt will likely be in the bullpen.

No comments: