Joey Votto looks 25 again. He scored from first yesterday on Tucker Barnhart’s double. . . down the LF line. With all due respect, speed is not Votto’s thing. The fact he touched two bases and the plate on a double in front of him, well. . .
Winning does put a spring in our steps.
The Reds are 6-0 most recently, 13-3 across a couple weeks. The bullpen suddenly is, ahem, a strength. They’ve taken advantage of one bad team (Colorado) and one good team playing badly (the Brewers). Now, they head into sunny SoCal to play a team that’s underachieving.
TML Law #1, redux: It’s more important when you play a team than who that team is. The Reds catch San Diego on a skid. The Padres just lost three in a row in Colorado, to the dreadful Rockies. They’ve fallen nine times in 11 games. In seven of ‘em, they’ve scored two runs or fewer.
So today’s quiz, class:
Can the Reds sustain?
Their big bats are showing early signs of cooling. Two runs in each of the last two games without facing Milwaukee’s dual aces, Burnes and Woodruff. Don’t look now, but Castellanos is 3 for his last 25. This weekend, the Reds get Joe Musgrove (2.50 ERA) tonight and Yu Darvish on Sunday, in pitcher-friendly Petco Park.
Can they sustain?
More:Paul Daugherty: Reds manager David Bell on Hunter Greene, 'He’s definitely getting close.'
Not just in the short term. Their current fun run has put them back into the center of the NL Central photo. Do they have the roster to keep you entertained in September?
The bats are good enough, for sure. Castellanos and Winker will regress some. But Votto has re-invented himself (again), Moustakas’ return isn’t far off. India seems to be passing his first Adjustment Test. Useful spare parts Aquino and Akiyama (and India, when Moustakas is back) are a decent hedge against any long-term injuries.
The starting rotation has been steadied by a Cuban defector who this time last year was serving a PED suspension. Tyler Mahle credits Derek Johnson for “saving’’ his career. Mahle’s steadiness has helped save the Reds rotation. The only concern at the moment with Wade Miley is when he reaches base. I don’t worry about his shoulder flying off, I worry about a hamstring snapping like a guitar string. When you get on base, big guy, get yourself picked off.
There is reason for skepticism when 40 percent of your best rotation is Miley and Sonny Gray. Two good pitchers not known for durability. But glance at the competition and feel better. St. Louis has a rotation held together with bubble gum and Carlos Martinez. The Cubs top man is Kyle Hendricks, who’s as liable to give up five runs as he is to pitch six innings. He’s been mostly good this spring. The Cubs bullpen is deep and accomplished.
More:Daugherty: For Reds' Vladimir Gutierrez, pitching must be the easy part
The Brewers would be scary in a three-game series. If the season ended today, Woodruff and Peralta would get Cy Young votes. Corbin Burnes has a 2.27 ERA and 102 Ks in 63 innings. Their bullpen is smokin’.
The Reds season will rise or fall with the health of the rotation. They can’t expect Gutierrez and/or Santillan to carry a September load. Pray Miley stays healthy and Gray returns to being Gray. Maybe Hunter Greene will arrive in September and peel off that button-down to reveal an S on his T-shirt.
Regardless, soak in this current romp like 70 degrees in February. Remember that as recently as June 1, this club was 24-29 and had just lost 17-3 at home to the Phillies. These Reds aren’t much different from those Reds.
Now, then. . .
I’M CHANNEL-SURFING LAST NIGHT and the Olympic swimming trials appeared on NBC. I’d almost forgotten the Games are beginning July 23. You?
I’ve covered six summer Olympics. It’s absolutely the coolest thing I’ve ever done. I got paid to go to Athens, Sydney, Barcelona etc. for three weeks at a time. All I had to do was work 14 hours a day for 20 straight days.
This year, I had to be reminded they were happening.
COVID lingers, and it will for the Olympics to be less Olympian. Not the sports themselves, but all the joy surrounding them. The Olympics are about pageantry. Pomp competes equally with circumstance. According to a Yahoo Sports story, the joy will be confined:
They'll be staged in a restrictive environment. Athletes won't be allowed to venture out into Tokyo and explore nightlife, won't be allowed to throw post-competition ragers in the Olympic Village, and won't be allowed to mingle and make new international friends.
The playbooks plead with Olympians to “avoid unnecessary forms of contact such as hugs, high-fives and handshakes”; to eat meals alone, or at least at a distance of six feet from others; and to refrain from walking around the city, even outdoors.
Good luck with that. Among the unofficial Olympic sports, athletes, um, meeting new friends is high on the list. Asking a bunch of young, single jocks not to “mingle’’ is like asking the marathon to be 26.2 feet.
It’s corny to say. But attending an Olympics, especially an Opening Ceremony, makes me proud to be a human being. It inspires a three-hour hope that we truly can be our best selves, that the language of sports really is universal. Let’s hope the Tokyo Games prompt the same feeling.
AND NOW. . .
FunMaster Brien will be at the hoedown in Colerain.
This Saturday from 11 am - 7 pm. is the Bluegrass Music & Craft Festival.
There is a great hillside in front of the stage, doubling as stadium seating. From the comfort of your blanket or lawn chair, you will be able to catch several wonderful bluegrass acts. Vernon McIntyre’s Appalachian Grass is the headliner. This five-piece group has been around since the 1960s. The Vinoklet Winery and Restaurant is hosting this second annual event. Music will be played from noon until 11, while the craft show rune is a great entertainer and his band puts on a fun and lively show. The other bands on the day include: The Hamiltons, Ma Crow & Co, P’s in a Pod, and 2nd Time Around Bluegrass.
The restaurant will be open but there will also be food booths. Wine (obviously) and beer will also be available. The numerous arts and crafts vendors will have plenty of products for purchase.
The Vinoklet Winery was established in 1986 and is Hamilton County’s only working winery. It is the home of twelve award-winning wines, which come from the 12,000 vines across its thirty acres.
Admission is $5. For more information, visit: https://www.vinokletwines.com/post/bluegrass-music-craft-festival.
Imbiber Dave praises the local barley malts.
TUNE O' THE DAY. . . OK, so maybe you've never heard of Cat Stevens or if you have, you've forgotten him. Me, too. In the course of packing my record collection for our looming Moving Day, I happened upon my Cat records. His music hasn't aged especially well, but here's a tune I enjoyed back in the day. Fire up the incense, put on your leather Peace ring and indulge in some, you know, herbs.
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