Did you hear the one about the bullpen? Of course you did, you’re a Reds fan.

The Good
–After missing his first start since 2013, Johnny Cueto pitched 6 innings of two-run baseball (only one earned). I was in and out a bit during the early innings (three-year-old bedtime chaos), but he seemed pretty good to me. Velocity maybe down just a touch, but nothing that looked worrying at all, which is good news.

–Several players have nice offensive nights. Votto, Phillips, Bruce, and Cozart all managed 2 hits each.

–Mattheus looked very good to me. Unlike some other relief pitchers, he didn’t cause any problems and that was nice.

The Bad

–It was not Todd Frazier’s night. 0-5 (with a reached-on-error) with two errors in the field. This loss is on him as much as anyone not named Diaz. But Frazier has been really good lately and everyone has bad days.

–Speaking of Jumbo. Yeah. Though, in fairness, he had an assist from Jay Bruce on that particular meltdown.

–And Cingrani, too. The bullpen had been on a nice run. Then it wasn’t. Bullpens are weird.

Not-So-Random Thoughts

–When Cueto had a 4-1 lead, I was pretty much counting on this as the 4th win in a row. Very disappointing loss to a bad team. If the Reds went off and swept the Phillies after sweeping that Nationals, I might be optimistic again. Crisis averted.

–Sometimes, I feel like the Reds don’t deserve Johnny Cueto. You’d think they could do a little better by him.

–Obligatory comment about weird bullpen usage and hashtag Aroldis Chapman and stuff. And beating dead horses, too.

–Marlon Byrd was hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. I haven’t seen word on him yet, but I’m sure you guys will post whenever information comes out. [Update: Marlon Byrd has suffered a fractured wrist according to manager Bryan Price. – spm]

–This baseball season is really not a ton of fun. It’s still baseball, though. Better than winter. I think.

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