Time for a new feature here at Redleg Nation, the Titanic Struggle Recap. Okay, that title and logo are works in progress (any suggestions are appreciated!), but let’s recap the positives and negatives of today’s titanic struggle.
FINAL
New York Mets: 2
Cincinnati Reds: 1
WP: Santana (1-0)
LP: Harang (0-1)
Save: F. Rodriguez (1)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–It’s great to have Reds baseball back!
–Aaron Harang looked okay. He only gave up one run in five innings. His control wasn’t as good as vintage Harang, but the cold weather must have contributed to that. Harang is going to be fine this year, methinks…and that’s great news for the Reds.
–Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, and Edwin Encarnacion showed admirable patience at the plate against a great pitcher. Those guys are going to be the key this year.
–Brandon Phillips took a walk!
–Other than a shaky outing by Danny Herrera, it was a nice outing by the bullpen — David Weathers included.
NEGATIVES
–Darnell McDonald has no business being in the major leagues. He was charged with one error, misplayed another ball, and looked lost at the plate. He did get a broken-bat, excuse-me single, but it was not a good Reds debut for Dusty’s new project.
–Micah Owings was the only real right-handed pinch hitter on the bench. That’s a disgrace. Jonny Gomes could have filled that role.
–Ramon Hernandez looked pretty bad today at the plate. He’ll certainly be better than Paul Bako was, but it was not a great debut.
ETC.
–As was noted in the game thread, Brandon Phillips didn’t run out a ground ball. Again. Why doesn’t he get hammered on WLW for his habit of dogging it? Is it because he smiles all the time?
–This game was a microcosm of exactly what we’d been saying all spring: the Reds are likely to get good pitching, but how are they going to score consistently?
–Also from the game thread: “This bench has to be the worst in all of baseball.”
What do you think?