The highly anticipated Baseball opening week has come and gone. The Reds are 6-3 after the first nine games of the 2011 season. The team has a calm confidence not seen from a Reds teams in the past seven to ten years. Buzz about the Reds is not just in Cincinnati, a lot of baseball people across the nation are talking about this team.
The pitching staff is looking very good, even with a couple rough outings. Young guns Travis Wood and Mike Leake have both had one solid start and one shaky start. Ace of the staff, Edison Volquez, is having some small issues in the early innings of his first two games, but as the game goes he settles down to do some good work. The crafty veteran of the staff, Bronson Arroyo, looked very good in his last outing, battling a decent D-backs lineup. Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto are getting healthy and will be making starts in AAA Louisville the middle of April. There is good reason for all Reds fans to get excited every time one of these guys stands on the hill.
The bull pen looks like a solid set of stoppers that will shut down opposing offenses in the late innings of games. Every type of pitcher from crafty off speed to filthy breaking stuff to blow you away with speed pitches in this mix. Here is a list of the guys in the bullpen: Sam LeCure, Matt Maloney, Nick Massett, Bill Bray, Logan Ondrusak, Jordan Smith, Aroldis Chapman, and Francisco Cordero.
The battery is above average to excellent and already looks like a very good run producing offense. The lineup boasts speed, plate patience, clutch hitting, and flat out home run power from the lead off spot to even some of our pitchers. Here is the roster list: Drew Stubbs, Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, Johnny Gomes, Jay Bruce, Paul Janish, Ramon Hernandez, Ryan Hannigan, Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cairo, Juan Francisco, and Chris Heisey.
Dusty Baker and the coaching staff have done a great job bringing this team together. Hopefully they will just continue to get better as the season moves forward. The Reds will be a force to reckon with all season long.
Lets get to the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres are heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the seven seed in the Eastern Conference. They are matched up against a very tough rival in the Philadelphia Flyers. The two teams split the season series 2-2. The Flyers won the first two games and the Sabres won the last two games. The Flyers were certainly better than the Sabres early this season, but Buffalo was the top point getting team in the second half of the season. The playoff series is going to be a close hard fought set of games. I'm making my prediction now, Sabres come out on top in 6 games, winning the series 4 games to 2. I'm sure a couple of my friends, who root for the Flyers, will argue that prediction with me and maybe have a friendly little wager.
Congratulations to Charl Schwartztel - 2011 Master's Champion. He gets the Green Jacket, his first PGA tour win, and his first PGA Major all in one.
Hope everyone has a great day. Thanks and Cheers from the Cheap Seats.
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