Unlike Indians Fans, Reds Fans At Least Have Some Hope Heading Into Season’s Second Half

July 13, 2009 By 2 Comments
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cleveland indians fansMajor League Baseball’s first half of the season ended poorly for Ohio’s two teams.

 

Hope has been gone since mid-April for the Cleveland Indians, and clearly, it’s only getting worse as the Tribe is looking at a 100 loss season if they don’t play decently the rest of the way. This from a team considered by many to be the favorite in the AL Central and by some to be a pennant contender. Thanks, Eric Wedge. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out — in October.

 

The Cincinnati Reds limp into the break after a disastrous 2-5 east coast trip this week, which sent them fading into 5th place at 42-45. Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo need to continue pitching as well as they have recently, while Johnny Cueto needs to forget July for the Reds to compete the rest of the way.  

 

Though the loss of Jay Bruce – and the continued absence of Edinson Volquez — for an indeterminate amount of time with a wrist injury won’t help matters, Cincinnati is still just a few games behind first place St. Louis. So despite needing to leapfrog many clubs, there’s still hope in the Queen City for the first playoff games in Great American Ballpark’s history.

 

* – Indians fans photo credit: Clemson Girl Baseball

Filed Under: Featured Column, MLB Tagged With: Aaron Harang, AL Central, All Star Break, Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds, cleveland indians, Edinson Volquez, Eric Wedge, Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto, MLB, nl central
About AJ Kaufman

AJ Kaufman is the co-editor of Midwest Sports Fans, where he has been a columnist since March 2009. AJ, a former Los Angeles schoolteacher and Indiana military historian, is now a corporate journalist, compiling publications for organizations across the country. He is a supporter of anything baseball-related -- especially minor league ball -- and mid-major college hoops. The author of three books, AJ is married to Maria and currently lives in Lincoln, Neb.

Follow him on Twitter (@ajkauf7) for ruminations on sports, politics, history and travel.

  • Quinty

    Mr. Kaufman, you seem overly optimistic about the Reds. Aaron Harang needs to keep pitching like he has recently? I hope not, over his last 5 starts he has seen his ERA go from 3.65 to 4.18. And don’t even get me started on Bronson Arroyo. Until his complete game shut out, he had given up 6 or more earned runs in his last 3 starts. If the Reds as a a team were limping towards the break, Harang and Arroyo were crawling…

    You may not like to hear this, but I say the Reds trade away Arroyo and take whatever they possibly can for him. The same can be said if. Granted, Arroyo is on pace for 18 wins, but also an ERA over 5 and a WHIP hovering around 1.5. I don’t think it should be hard for the Reds to replace him in the rotation…

  • AJ

    On Arroyo, he wins and gives you innings. Therefore, though inconsistent, he’s a keeper. I think he is 1st or 2nd in total starts the past 4 years. And yes, he wins, despite a high ERA. He eats up innings. He’s a good 4th starter. Who’s going to replace him/ Micah Owings?

    Harang had a good start the last 2 times out prior to yesterday.

    The keys are Cueto, Bailey (who’s been dcent lately, finally) and the return of Volquez as you know what you’re getting at this point with Bronson and Aaron.