Dusty must pass "arms" test with Reds
Posted: Saturday, April 12, 2008 10:30 AM
Cincinnati is grabbing attention after winning six of its first 11 games. Usually with the Reds it’s about hitting, but this April the young arms of Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez top the bats as the team’s biggest stories.
Cueto, a bargain signing from the Dominican Republic, is flourishing with a changeup taught by Reds’ great Mario Soto. Volquez, acquired from Texas in December in the Josh Hamilton deal, routinely throws in the mid-90s and also offsets his heat with a good changeup.
Both are young and with highly-touted pitching prospect Homer Bailey starting the year with a pair of strong starts at Triple-A, the Reds have arms that give the franchise hope of better times to come.
How important are these young pitchers? Look through Cincinnati’s baseball history and pick out the standout pitchers. It’s a short list. This franchise has been about hitting and of late its new ballpark, which often plays as a bandbox, cementing the Reds’ offensive tradition.
So with the Reds beginning to dream about young arms, fans ask: Can manager Dusty Baker properly handle them? Ah, the key question that hovers over Baker from his days managing the Cubs is beginning to resurface.
I have read the cries from those who track pitch counts and have much supporting evidence for claims that Baker’s managing was harmful to Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. A New York Times magazine article last summer added fuel to the theory. But here is what else I know: Baker was hired in Chicago to win, not develop young talent. And he rode hot pitchers in taking a team within five outs of a World Series. A fan base that hasn’t won since Genghis Khan wasn’t concerned about the “future” of its star young pitchers in the summer and fall of 2003.
And something else to know: Baker was hired in Cincinnati to win now. The Reds owner has been open about his desire to simultaneously win and develop young players. So Baker must be judged under the conditions of his employment. And to be fair, he must be judged in assessing lessons learned from Wood and Prior and how they may be applied to Cueto, Volquez and Bailey.
Also worth pointing out is that in San Francisco, where the demand to win now wasn’t as intense as Baker experienced in Chicago, he treated his starting pitchers well. If anything, Baker pushed his bullpens, occasionally to the point of burnout.
What hasn’t changed in Baker’s three managing jobs is that he treats every game equally, be it April or September. After the Reds won a game in Milwaukee this week, Baker was quoted about the importance of staying within a game and a half of first place in the NL Central. Not the kind of talk you’ll hear from most if not all other managers in the second week of the season. Blame not Baker for this, but the baseball world, which is immersed in the immediacy rampant in our culture. Baker gets that and he simply doesn’t hide it.
FIVE MORE SWINGS
1. It’s the end of the world and I know it by the fact that Orioles manager Dave Trembley, concerned about short innings from his starters, admits to considering a 13-man pitching staff -- IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE!
2. I used to banter with general managers about a 28-man roster, using 14 pitchers and eliminating the charade of carrying three or four DL players all season. The GMs were unanimous in telling me the idea would only lead to managers increasing the use of bullpens, slowing down games with more pitching changes and eventually landing more burnt-out relievers on the DL. They were right.
3. Suddenly Atlanta’s pitching -- labeled improved by many heading into the season -- is betraying its buildup. And the Braves are the leading early-season candidates for a bullpen overhaul.
4. Cementing his reputation as one of the game’s great pitching coaches is Dave Duncan, whose masterful job of retooling the Cardinals starting staff helped St. Louis to break from the gate 8-3.
5. See Corey Patterson’s start in Cincinnati? Only two strikeouts in the first 10 games and eight extra-base hits. It’s early but while with the Cubs he was used by the anti-Dusty Baker faction as an example of undeveloped youth and unrealized potential. It would be sweet for Baker to see Patterson arrive while under his guidance with the Reds.
