Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings July 13, 2012 CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Baker: 'We're in a great position' By Bill Koch | 7/13/2012 6:06 AM ET At the start of the season, the first series after the All-Star break between the Reds and St. Louis Cardinals figured to be a confrontation between the first- and second-place teams in the National League Central. It hasn’t worked out that way thanks to the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates, who have crashed the party and occupy first place, looking to break a string of 19 consecutive losing seasons. “They’re kind of similar to us two years ago,” Reds outfielder Chris Heisey said Thursday as the Reds reassembled for a workout at Great American Ball Park. “They’re starting to believe they can win. I think that’s just as important as anything in this game.” But the Reds believe they can win, too, and feel good about sitting nine games over .500 at the break, one game out of first place and a game-and-a-half ahead of the third-place Cardinals. Their 47-38 record is the third best in the league and they have just come off a 6-5 West Coast trip facing the pleasant prospect of a cozy 10-game homestand. “We’re in a great position,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said, “and we haven’t hit our stride yet. We haven’t played out best baseball for an extended period of time.” When they won the division in 2010, the Reds were 49-41 before the break, 42-30 after. They’re looking for similar second-half success this season. Working in their favor is a starting rotation that was outstanding during the road trip, posting a 1.90 ERA. The Reds’ team ERA of 3.39 is the lowest at the break since the 1990 World Champion Reds had a 3.02. Getting things started for the Reds tonight is right-hander Mat Latos, who’s pitching some of the best baseball of his career. Latos has allowed a total of two earned runs in his last three starts, two of which were complete games. “I’m excited to get back out on the hill,” Latos said. “We’re going to be playing in front of the home crowd. It’s been 14 days, including the All-Star break that we haven’t been here. Everything’s been working. I’ve been working down in the zone, throwing the off-speed pitches for strikes, and getting outs. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” The Reds are far from broken, but Baker acknowledges there are a few things that need fixing in the second half if his club is going to reach its potential. Near the top of that list are hitting with runners in scoring position, better pitch selection at the plate, and aggressive, but intelligent base running. “If we improve on those things, naturally we’ll improve our one-run record, which has really hurt us,” Baker said. The Reds, who are 14-16 in one-run games, begin the second half ranked first in the NL in fielding percentage, third in pitching, but eighth in runs scored. It’s not hard to see what a more potent offense could do for this club. “We’ve had streaks where we’ve hit really well and scored a lot of runs and then we’ve had streaks where we’ve kind of not showed up and scored one or two runs a game,” Heisey said. “If we can be consistent and just score three, four, five runs a night, we’re going to have a great chance the way our starting pitching has been going.” Of course, the players in Pittsburgh and St. Louis were likely making their own rosy predictions Thursday as they prepared for the second half, with all indications that the race will go down to the wire featuring three teams now instead of the expected two. “It’s a good race,” Baker said. “That’s why it’s called a race. I know everybody wants to have a runaway but there are very few runaways. Anybody who’s run a race knows that it’s fun to race against somebody.” The fact that the second half begins at home against the Cardinals just adds a little spice. “We’re going to see where we’re at right now,” said third baseman Todd Frazier. “Why not play against one of the biggest division rivals we have, come in and win the series and make a big spark? It’s go time.” Will Reds fill leadoff need? By John Fay | 7/12/2012 2:55 PM ET I’m at the San Diego airport about to board a plane for a flight back to the real world, where the weather gets hot and humid. The break came at good time for the Reds. An 11-game road trip to the West Coast is always a grind. This one they wrapped up Sunday was particularly tough because of all the tight games. The Reds proved two things in the first half: a) they’re contenders; and b) they need a little more to get over the hump. I think the No. 1 need is a reliable leadoff man. Zack Cozart’s had a solid first half, but he’s better suited to hit second or down in the order. The Reds leadoff men have combined to hit .203 with a .240 on-base percentage. They are last in the National League in both categories. The question is who’s available. Philadelphia’s Juan Pierre apparently is. He’s having a decent year. He’s a rental player, which works well for the Reds since Billy Hamilton will likely be ready by 2014. Minnesota’s Denard Span likely is available too. He’s hitting .270 with a .334 on-base this year. His career numbers are .282/.357. He under contract the next two years at $4.75 million and $6.5 million with a club option for 2015. Everyone assumes that the new leadoff guy will play left field. But with Drew Stubbs’ struggles, the Reds may be looking at reducing his role. Span is a very good center fielder. Ryan Ludwick’s bat has been productive lately. He’s hitting .368/.368/.526 in July after hitting .253/.326/.582 in the June. If he’s that guy the rest of the year, the Reds can use his bat. A huge question is whether the Reds have the prospects to pull off a significant trade in what promises to be a seller’s market. If not, the other alternative is to move Brandon Phillips into the leadoff spot and live with Ludwick or Todd Frazier as the fourth hitter. We’re 19 days from the trade deadline. It should be interesting. The Morning Line, 7/13 (North Carolina edition) [Excerpt taken from The Morning Line, 7/13] By nhurm | 7/13/2012 9:22 AM ET There is no greater feeling that you can get from being a Reds fan than that of creating new Reds fans. I have converted my wife over to the Red side (she grew up a Braves fan) and my three children are all Reds fans too. I have tried to get my youngest son to watch a Reds game with me since the day he was born, but he never had interest until this year, his first year in T-ball. Now everyday that the Reds are on, he stands directly in front of the TV and reenacts each pitch and each at-bat. Before every game that he watches I must hear the question, “Daddy, when is Bronson Arroyo going to be on?” He’s even learned to imitate Arroyo’s “rockstar” high leg kick when he pitches in the backyard. Thankfully for my son, Arroyo has come back to form this season. While I was on vacation I made it a point to limit myself and the rest of the family from technology, internet, tv, and any type of media outlet, so I didn’t see much of the West Coast trip, the Home Run Derby, or the All- Star game. Even though I didn’t get to see the Home Run Derby, I do take issue with Doc’s loathing of Chris Berman. Maybe it’s the generation gap, or maybe it’s because I listened to Berman every Wednesday night during my high school years, but I really enjoy hearing Berman call the Derby each year. It’s like a blast from the past for me. Back back back back back…. Gone! Berman may have stolen that line from those who came before him and lack originality, but what in this day and age is? I hate I missed this year’s All-Star game. The NL laid a beating on the AL and I’m sure that upset all of the national media. If it’s not New York or Boston, then it doesn’t matter, right? Ugh… Moving on to the Club: I’m glad that the All-Star game is behind us so we can stop talking about the snub from TLR. Yes, Phillips and Cueto deserved to be included, but the way the Reds organization, Cueto, Cueto’s agent, and us as fans handled the situation left a bad taste in my mouth. It was too whiny, and I hate to hear whine. I hate the Cardinals (as do most Reds fans) because they beat us, and when they don’t, they whine about it.