WilcoFan

That's going waaaaaaay too far.

Meh. These types of games are bound to happen every now and then. Unfortunately, they've been happening every fifth day with Sweaty Teddy.

Huh? Volquez isn't in there right now. Their bullpen isn't exactly the most reliable thing in the world right now. If the Reds give up any more runs this game at all, you'll never see Volquez or Cueto go under 125 pitches again this season.

Fast Forward Two Years. Location: cincinattireds.com message board. "That Volquez is such a wuss. Why don't you have another towel drill, you wimp! You just aren't tough enough."

How much you wanna bet that Volquez comes out for the 6th? I'd bet the same amount I would bet on the fact that Dusty has no idea what Volquez's pitch count is. Or that he even knows what the term "pitch count" means.

This is about right.

Good to see we basically have five automatic outs in a row in Johnson, Blanco, P, Fontenot, and Theriot. I hate the Cubs organization. If .280/.357/.400 is an "automatic out," I'd love to have that automatic out in my lineup right now.

The Cubs couldn't let a game go by without doing something that would allow for people to get unnecessarily upset. That's just the rules.

Ump wants to get home early tonight.

Over/Unders for the remainder of the game Dusty Baker Double Switches Total Pitches seen by the Reds How many minutes before Darren is flown in to sit on Baker's lap at the press conference

Hate to be the guy who had to start Josh Fogg on his fantasy team tonight.

Anyone think that in the Dusty years (and even, to an extent, last year), all these walks that the Cubs are taking would have been overanxious ground outs to 2B?

Derrek Lee is absolutely locked in right now on both offense and defense.

This ump has no idea what his strike zone is.

I know Theriot is the official whipping boy and therefore it is forbidden to say anything good about him, but since his mini-benching, his OBP is over .400. He's been playing well.

According to ESPN radio, Felix was complaining last night in the locker room about injuring his left hand on that catch. According to them, he was feeling pretty rough. My guess is that this has a lot more to do with that.

Words cannot describe the depth to which Jim Hendry is a buffoon.

theriot has very quietly moved his OBP above .350 and shown some impressive patience over the last week and a half.

felix is ridiculously overmatched tonight.

theriot got hosed in that AB.

I've got a pair of tix for May 14th and 15th that I'm no longer going to use. If you want them for face ($46.00 each), send me a message. The 14th is 7:05 and the 15th is 1:20...both against the Padres. Tickets are in the 400 section, and both sets (I believe) are in the first 2-5 rows of the section.

I forgot that all of NSBB's brilliant minds (who just happen to not be brilliant enough to have jobs in baseball) do. Pretty much always it seems. (I'm not saying I agree with yanking Hill, but seriously, people on NSBB think they know everything about baseball - sometimes it gets tiresome). You know what gets more tiresome? People posting on NSBB, bitching about NSBB, and its posters. Even more tiresome is people complaining about people complaining about other posters. And round and round we go!

This is based on a pattern of wildness throughout Spring Training and into the regular season. The assumption on the part of the coaching staff is that it is a mechanical problem that requires extra side sessions that will push back his next start to next Thursday. No one knows anything beyond that. This isn't about "playing the hot hand." It is about getting arguably the 2nd best pitcher on the staff to regain the mechanics that make him the 2nd best starting pitcher. Given that the coaching staff is around him 8 hours per day and watch not only his starts, but also his side sessions, if they feel like they can correct his mechanical issues with side sessions and a couple of no-stress relief outings (which could potentially give much-needed relief to a bullpen that has been taxed lately AND get Hill the innings he missed out on in his short start this week), then they, at the very least, have a significant amount of data from which to base their decision. Based upon sheer amount of evidence, their decision is far from "stupid." If it goes beyond a week and actually turns into some sort of benching, then this is a stupid move and should be condemned. If they work with him, he improves his mechanics, and starts next weekend and doesn't possess the same control problems, then it will have been an effective strategy, and all the hand-wringing that has gone on will be for naught. I, for one, am willing to give Marshall a single start if it means Hill will figure out the mechanical issues that have been plaguing him this year and return to being the 2nd best pitcher on this staff.

I'll be sure to get out of the way when the sky falls.