You’ve probably already heard that Chris Dickerson is still having back spasms. He was scratched from last night’s game. First question this brings to mind is this one:
Why do the Reds insist on carrying 13 pitchers??? Because of this ludicrous insistence on constructing a roster with more pitchers than hitters, the Reds had three — count ’em, 3 — players available on the bench last night.
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The next question I have is whether Dickerson’s problem is going to be one where they play it out day-to-day for 11 days, instead of putting him on the disabled list and getting some help up here. We’ve certainly seen Walt Jocketty do that several times this year.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a pitcher sent out today (Carlos Fisher? Josh Roenicke?), with Drew Sutton being recalled. Still, I don’t think there is ever a scenario under which it is a good idea to have 13 pitchers on your active roster.
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Okay, former Red Todd Coffey. Last night, Chris Welsh said something interesting on the television broadcast as he was explaining Coffey’s improved performance as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. Welsh said that Coffey was throwing a new pitch (I cannot remember for the life of me what pitch he said it was), and that the Reds absolutely would not let Coffey throw it.
So Coffey pitches poorly, the Reds release him, the Brewers sign him and let him throw that pitch…voila! He’s an effective reliever again!
Homer Bailey’s recent success (last night notwithstanding) has been attributed to the splitter that he began throwing at the beginning of June. Bailey and his pitching coach both said that he didn’t throw it before because the Reds wouldn’t let him (I know, I know, “injury concerns”). Finally, they said that Bailey was just going to throw it and tell the Reds it was something other than a splitter. Because, you know, he wanted to get people out. Novel concept.
Final question: Who is making these decisions, and how quickly can he be fired???
Discuss….