Hunter Greene will make his first Triple-A start for the Louisville Bats Thursday night in Omaha, so can we at least wait until Friday morning to start screaming for him to come to The Show?
Those of a Certain Age will recall the non-stop fan demands in 2007 to promote Homer Bailey, the last Reds kid pitcher with Greene’s potential. Then-GM Wayne Krivsky resisted the bleatings, determined to bring Bailey up when Homer was ready. Krivsky believed bringing a marquee pitching prospect up too early was far worse than getting him here too late. The psyche scar from having to send the kid back to Triple-A if he bombed wasn’t worth the risk.
Krivsky was right. Bailey made his debut at age 21, after throwing – count ‘em – 542 innings at all levels of minor-league ball. Hunter Greene, also 21, has thrown 113.2. He didn’t pitch at all in 2019 or last year. His AA numbers are gaudy – 5-0, 1.98, 60 Ks in 41 innings – but indicate only that he can dominate other 21-year-olds.
Get him to Louisville, have him work on his secondary pitches and tell him there will be a name plate above his cubicle at the Small Park next spring.
I know, I hear you. The big club’s bullpen is flammable. The kid throws 100-plus. He can’t be worse than pick-your-Gasoline-Man, right? Maybe not. But is it worth the risk?
He already blew out his arm once, throwing too hard at a Futures game. You want the Reds best pitching prospect since. . . since. . . when? going full-on Wayne Simpson? (OG reference, kids, Lookimup.)
If there’s an injury in the Reds pen, or they make a deal involving a reliever, then maybe summon Greene in September. Until then, well, Michael Lorenzen will be back in mid-July, and he’s better than Hunter Greene.
In fact, Greene’s teammate Nick Lodolo has been every bit as impressive as Greene: 2-0, 0.90, 30 innings, 45Ks with Chattanooga. Lodolo is 23 and played in college for three years. If he can overcome a nagging blister issue, he’ll be in ‘Ville before too long, too.
Give them time to figure it all out.
Now, then. . .
WHEN YOU’RE HOT. . . Reds score 2 in the 10th last night without a hit. Only one batted ball left the infield, Kyle Farmer’s sac fly. (BTW, just a big-league AB for Farmer, getting that insurance run via a flyball out. Winning baseball, for sure.)
Castillo was very good, but Milwaukee’s lineup is godawful. If the Crew doesn’t find a couple bats between now and the trade deadline, I don’t see how they make October, even with Woodruff, Burnes and Hader.
The four-gamer in San Diego this weekend is must-see TV. Get your naps in.
GREAT TO SEE FACEBOOK IS ON THE JOB, tracking down my violent, anti-deer post and slapping me with a one-day suspension.
A couple days ago, my pal Tuttle posted a photo of a deer, explaining that now that the cicada onslaught has calmed near his DC abode, the deer are back to eating his flowers. I responded, “Shoot ‘em.’’
Uh-oh.
FB sent me a note informing me they’d benched my account.
We simply can’t have wanton, threatening deer posts on our site. Thumper was ecstatic.
WE’RE MILKING THIS FOR ALL IT’S WORTH, because we heathen media lo-o-o-ve controversy and controversy in golf is about as rare as weekend warriors playing by the rules. You think we’re gonna let Bryson-v-Brooksy die?
DeChambeau to Golf.com, re his feud (or whatever) with Brooks Koepka:
“We’re obviously here as individuals competing, trying to win a championship,” DeChambeau said. “But I would say for the most part, there’s a line. We’re both under that line; we’re both having fun with each other. I think we’re at least, at the end of the day, it comes down to it, we’re competitors, we want to compete and kind of jab at each other, that’s fine. No issues.”
Yesterday, BDC’s agent denied a report that his client had rejected an offer from the USGA to pair Bryson with Koepka in the 1st round of the US Open, commencing tomorrow. DeChambeau is the defending champ. Koepka has won the Open twice.
Maybe we’ll see them together Sunday afternoon. Wouldn’t that be delicious?
KUDOS TO ZAC TAYLOR, for canceling the last two days of minicamp. Most everything the NFL does is overrated, overblown and overkilled. Practices in shorts in June are near the top of the list. I once covered a coach at East Carolina named Ed Emory. Ed did OK at ECU, reaching as high as 19th in the polls and producing a pretty good RB named Earnest Byner.
Ed also had a thing for August practices. He favored two-a-days, until someone told him his season-opening opponent was practicing three times a day. Ed followed suit.
When Sam Wyche was coach for a year at Indiana, he dispatched a grad-assistant type to loiter outside the coaching offices of his next opponent. The poor guy’s job was to monitor the lights in the enemy’s workplace. When they went out, indicating the coaches were done for the day, the grad assistant was to call Wyche and tell him. That’s when Sam dismissed his coaches for the night.
More always equals better in the eyes of The League, whether it’s hours spent watching video or money spent building mounds of cocktail shrimp to display at a party the Week(!) of the Super Bowl. The NF of L isn’t familiar with the concept of diminishing returns.
Give the players a few more off days now. They’ll more than make up for it starting in a month or so.
TYLER GLASNOW HURT HIS ELBOW, BLAMES MLB. . .
"I just threw 80 something innings and you just told me I can't use anything. I have to change everything," he said, via Bally Sports' Tricia Whitaker. "I truly believe 100% that's why I got hurt.
"I'm frustrated MLB doesn't understand. You can't just tell us to use nothing. It's crazy."
Agree or disagree?
It’s a fair point to suggest maybe you don’t start banning sticky gunk midway through a season. It’s a bit much to blame your injury on it. You’ve known since you could grip a baseball you weren’t allowed to gunk it up. Shouldn’t you have learned to pitch without going all Gaylord Perry? Most of your peers have.
The bigger question is, why has baseball always been a haven for cheaters? Every sport has workers who defy the agreed-upon rules. None do so with the purpose and efficiency of baseball players. Scuffed balls, corked bats, banging on trash cans, stealing signs from a hole in the centerfield wall. PEDs. And on and on.
Baseball historically has glorified its cheaters, not punished them. (Except Pete, of course.) The Astros cheated their way to a championship. They still have the trophy. Good ol’ Sammy-n-Mac, bringing the game back, one bit of andro at a time, one corked Louisville Slugger at a time.
Barry Bonds.
What was the title of Gaylord Perry’s autobiography?
Me and The Spitter. Perry kept his lube in his crotch, explaining that was the one place an umpire would never look. Nice.
THE HEIGHT OF IRRESPONSIBILITY. . .
Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns has entered into the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. He will be out of action for an unknown period of time. (News services)
The Suns are in the Western Conference finals.
Paul has not said if he has been vaccinated.
If he hasn’t been, why not?
How can you play a sport where physical contact is prevalent and not care enough about your teammates to get the shot(s)?
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . One of the heaviest rock tunes ever made, and it doesn’t even need a snare drum. Is it true that Eric Burdon for decades has refused to play this tune in public?
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