Cincinnati Reds

que up your misguided Dusty Baker jokes.

As expected, Edinson Volquez underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery Monday as doctors discovered that the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow was almost completely torn. Typical recovery from Tommy John surgery involves about 12 months on the sidelines, so even if everything goes smoothly Volquez could end up missing all of next season.

Since coming to Cincinnati in the December of 2007 swap for Josh Hamilton he's gone 21-8 with a 3.44 ERA and 253 strikeouts in 245.2 innings to emerge as one of baseball's most promising young starters. Even missing all of 2010 would give Volquez time to make a full return at age 27 and because a great changeup has led to so much of his success losing a couple miles per hour may not ruin him.

Aaron Gleeman

Well they won't sit him for very long. It's not like they have any other options.

It will be very interesting to check out the Reds lineup on Tuesday and see if Brandon Phillips is in it. Phillips was caught not hustling again on what he expected to be a routine fly out in the first inning. The ball was lost in the sky by right fielder Andre Ethier. Because he wasn't running hard out of the batters' box, Phillips missed a chance for a RBI double that would have put him on second with no outs and a 3-0 Reds lead.

"I was just happy I finally did something with runners in scoring position," Phillips explained. "I hit a fly ball to get the run and I was satisfied with that. I hit the ball in the outfield and was 'I missed it.' I put my head down. I didn't know he missed it until I looked back up. I could have done worse and not get the run in at all." "I messed up," he said. "That's my second time not hustling this year. It won't happen again."

After the game, Phillips and Dusty Baker hadn't yet spoken. Baker was furious with his second baseman. "We should have gotten some more in that first inning, big time," Baker fumed. "You have to hustle on that ball there or it's a totally different inning. That was a rally killer for us.  "We've repeated it many, many times. You have to play hard all the time. That was big, real big. We had them on the ropes and we killed the rally." "We've all talked to him until we're blue in the face," Baker said. "Evidently, this must have started long before I got here."

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Ryan Hanigan is hitting .327 in 180 plate appearance this season. But, he has a minor league career .372 SLG, and only 18 HR's in over 2100 plate appearances, so don't look for any pop from his bat. Like at all.

The Reds announced Sunday that the catcher (sore left knee) will be placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday. Hernandez is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday to clean out the knee, and he is expected to miss four-to-six weeks. “I’ve been playing with it and doing stuff and trying to keep the pain away, and I guess it got worse,” Hernandez said after Sunday’s game. “Now we’ve got to do something about it, because I can’t run.”

Hernandez took some grief, at least from Internet posters and the talk-show crowd, for not sliding into home and being tagged out on a play Thursday. The reason, it is now known, was Hernandez did not want to further hurt himself. The Reds will recall catcher Craig Tatum from Triple-A Louisville to replace Hernandez. Ryan Hanigan becomes the primary catcher.

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Edinson Volquez, in a long-toss session on the outfield grass, threw 30 times from an approximate distance of 120 feet. “I felt fine,” Volquez said. “No pain.” Volquez next will pitch off a mound Monday in Los Angeles, as he will travel with the Reds for their Dodgers series. Volquez will throw a bullpen session every other day starting Monday, then probably head for some rehab starts at Louisville or Dayton shortly thereafter.

“That’s the plan,” manager Dusty Baker said.

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a look at the Reds through the first half.

• The Reds are 42-45 and a season-worst five games out of first place. They are tied for eighth in the NL wild-card standings, 6 1/2 games behind the San Francisco Giants.
• Seven of the Reds’ first eight series after the All-Star Break are against teams with winning records -- Milwaukee (4), at Los Angeles (3), at Chicago (3), Colorado (3), Chicago (3), at San Francisco (3) and at St. Louis (3). Only four games with San Diego between the Chicago and Colorado series interrupts the stretch.
• The team’s longest winning is four games (once) and longest losing streak is also four, three times.
• Catcher Ryan Hanigan has thrown out 42 percent of runners attempting to steal (10 of 24), Ramon Hernandez 23 percent (9 of 30).
• Jay Bruce has 10 outfield assists, tied for the major league lead.
• The Reds’ team batting average of .248 is 13th in the National League. Their 81 home runs rank eighth in the NL. Their 356 runs scored rank 14th. They have been outscored by 49 runs for the season. Only the Padres and Nationals have a worse runs differential in the NL.

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I dropped Jay Bruce in the two leagues I had him in. Call me foolish, but I figure he'll get about 100-125 ab's the rest of the way, and he wasn't doing all that great with healthy wrists. Next year, Mr Bruce, we will get em next year.

The fracture Jay Bruce suffered to his right wrist was right along the joint line, and an MRI showed no damage to the tendons or ligaments, the Reds said Monday. It’s paramount that the bones align perfectly at the joint. An X-ray indicated that they did. Bruce will be examined again on Thursday, and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.

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he will be out at least a month, probably two or three. I'd consider him toast for the season.

Reds right fielder Jay Bruce was forced to leave Saturday night's game against the Mets after hurting his right arm trying to make a sliding catch in the first inning. With runners on first and second, Bruce rushed in trying to grab David Wright’s blooper to right. He got his glove on the ball, but it came out as his wrist folded back awkwardly.

Bruce grabbed at his wrist, and manager Dusty Baker and a trainer came out of the dugout after Wright’s hit loaded the bases. On Fox Sports, Reds General Manager Walk Jocketty said he talked to Reds trainer Mark Mann and it appeared Bruce has a fractured wrist. Jocketty said if that's the case, Bruce would probably be our four to six weeks.

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Not only was Jay Bruce out of the lineup on Thursday, he'll be missing from the starting lineup when the road trip moves to New York on Friday. Bruce is batting .209 and 0-for-his-last 12. Manager Dusty Baker called Bruce into his office Thursday for a private, one-on-one meeting that lasted several minutes.

"I'm letting him clear his head, much like Jimmy Rollins over here and Magglio Ordonez with the Tigers, I thought I'd give him today and tomorrow to clear himself and study," Baker said. "He'll study our guys, who's hitting and who's not and why. He'll study their guys like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and different guys and see how they approach things and set up."

Baker, who is an eternal optimist is trying make sure Bruce maintains his confidence which will be essential to climbing out of the hole. "The big thing is the mindset and staying positive and just not getting too down," Bruce said. "Mentally, sometimes it's the toughest thing to keep your morale up. Confidence is a huge part of this game."

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For sale: Marge Schott's mansion: Photo's

I love two out rallies! You only need one stinking out, and yet try as you might, nothing goes your way.

This two out rally got ugly, quick.

The Phillies wasted no time getting to Reds starter Johnny Cueto on Monday, scoring a franchise-record 10 runs in the first inning en route to a lopsided 22-1 victory.

Shane Victorino launched Cueto's ninth pitch of the night over the right-field wall for a two-run homer. And the inning was just beginning. Left fielder Greg Dobbs (two-run shot) and second baseman Chase Utley (three-run blast) would also homer, starter Cole Hammels helped his own cause with a two-run double and every Phillies player except Ryan Howard reached base.

Philadelphia scored eight of its 10 runs in the frame with two outs.

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Phils' Ibanez makes first rehab stint

Third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, out more than two months with a chip fracture in his left wrist, was back in the lineup Saturday, hitting in the No. 6 spot. Encarnacion belted a pinch-hit double Friday night in the ninth inning.
“He gave us a chance to come back and win the game,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “That was great to see.”

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