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Wednesday, October 01, 2008
The 2008 Cincinnati pitching staff was 13th in the league in ERA, posting identical home and road figures. That's odd for a team in a hitters' park, but there is some bias toward your home park in almost any data. For the Reds, it represented a step forward. The Reds began the season with two veterans atop the rotation, a couple of promising youngsters, and other veterans to fill in spots. The two veterans they were counting on opened the season slowly. Aaron Harang was a bit off, but was mostly pitching in bad luck. After an ill-advised four-inning relief stint in an extra-inning game, he fell apart and ended up on the disabled list. He came back and pitched better, showing flashes of his ace form. He ended up 6-17 with a 4.78 ERA. The other veteran, Bronson Arroyo, came on after his slow start and finished 15-11, his highest win total ever, with a 4.77 ERA. He pitched in fairly good luck all season. The veteran fill-ins, however, did not do so well. Josh Fogg, winner of the Colorado play-in game last fall, was just 2-7 with a 7.58 ERA, and Matt Belisle finished 1-4 with a 7.28 ERA. The youngsters fared better. Edinson Volquez emerged as the ace of the staff with a stunning first half and ended at 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA and 206 strikeouts. Johnny Cueto had his ups and downs at age 21 but hung in the rotation all season and finished at 9-14 with a 4.81 ERA. Homer Bailey was far less successful, coming in at 0-6 with a 7.93 ERA. Ramon Ramirez showed promise in the late season with 1-1 and 2.67 marks. Daryl Thompson made three starts, going 0-2 with a 6.91 ERA. The performances of Volquez, Cueto, and Ramirez offer hope for next season. In the bullpen, Francisco Cordero was bothered by a bone spur all year, and finished at 5-4 with 34 saves and a 3.34 ERA. Jeremy Affeldt led the team in appearances as the utility lefthander and was 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA. Veteran David Weathers finished 4-6 with a 3.25 ERA. Mike Lincoln was pulled off the scrap heap and was 2-5 with a 4.48 ERA. Bill Bray was another lefty, often used for a couple of batters although he has stuff to do more, and was 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA. Jared Burton was the best reliever for most of the year but was slowed by injuries in the second half and finished 5-1 with a 3.22 ERA. Gary Majewski stumbled again, coming in at 1-0 with a 6.53 ERA. Other guys got just a few outings. Todd Coffey was sent to the minors and then released after going 0-0 with a 6.05 ERA. Nick Masset was 1-0, 2.08 in 10 games. Kent Mercker was 1-0, 3.29 in 15 gmes. Danny Herrera, Adam Pettyjohn, Jon Adkins, and Josh Roenicke made brief appearances. I can see the ingredients for a good 2009 staff in this bunch. This is a source of hope for the future. |
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