Bronson Arroyo

Cincinnati Reds' manager Dusty Baker has announced that Aaron Harang will once again take the ball for the first game of the regular season in 2010.

He has been has starter the opener every year since 2006.  Harang's fifth consecutive Opening Day ties the team record set by Pete Donohue (1923-27) and Mario Soto (1982-87).

You really have to pitch well the previous year to receive this honor right? 

Wrong.

Aroldis Chapman: the savior, the next best thing, or the next Randy Johnson. All things might be true, but it has to start somewhere.

The Reds' prized new acquisition threw a bullpen session for about two hours on Thursday, and to people who witnessed it, said that he threw well and felt well after.

Chapman, who was just recently signed a six year contract worth over $30 million, has been speculated to be one of the best new pitchers in the game, and the Reds are hoping they hit a jackpot. 

If you’ve been reading the site the past two-plus years, you already know that I’ve never been the biggest supporter of Bronson Arroyo. 

Yes, he always wins games, but he almost always posts ERAs above 4.00 and WHIPs above 1.40.  Last season, however, was a very big exception:

15 Wins
220.1 Innings
3.84 ERA
1.27 WHIP
127 Strikeouts (5.19 K/9)
65 Walks (2.66 BB/9)
.270 BABIP

We have all seen pitchers suffer from whiplash, consistently turning to watch ball after ball sore over the fence. The question is, is that a problem that is going to plague them once again or is there hope of overcoming it and righting the ship in 2010? 

Let’s take a look at the pitchers with the 10 worst home run/flyball rates in 2009 to see:

1) Braden Looper: 15.8 percent

This is the first post of my in-depth review of the 2009 Cincinnati Reds.  After a quick look back at the season as a whole, I will now begin a player-by-player analysis of this year's performances and what to look for next year.

Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News has watched more baseball in his lifetime than I probably ever will, what with his career revolving around baseball and mine...not so much.  However, his recent blog post to the Dayton Daily's online sheet proves just how little he actually understands the modern game.  He whines...I mean...writes, that small market teams cannot compete i

One of these men IS a Red Sox. The other WAS a Red Sox, having been made available by the Pittsburgh Pirates who failed to protect him off waivers, and then having been traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Willy Mo Pena.

One was a league MVP in 2008. The other has, at times, been kind of a marginal player in the game.

One of these men might unkindly, but reasonably accurately, be described as "pint sized." The other is a "hunk," over half a foot taller than the first.

The first set of attributes belongs to Dustin Pedroia; the second, to Bronson Arroyo.

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The young Cincinnati Reds are a hanging tough at 26-20.

They are currently 1 1/2 games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.  They also trail the Milwaukee Brewers by a half game.  The Reds are leading the preseason favorites, the Chicago Cubs, by three games.