2011 MLB Season in Review: Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds really got a bum deal this year. Sure maybe that is not why they wound up 79-83 and 17 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, but the fact remains the same. The Reds play in the only six team division in baseball, and even though this division did place two teams in the playoffs (in fact those two teams are playing in the NLCS as we speak) the team in the National League Central play at a huge disadvantage.
For the Reds, who wound up playing more Inter-league games then their divisional rivals, and had to play two series against the very hot Cleveland Indians really got the short end of the stick. They went 42-37 against the teams in their division, but just 6-12 in inter-league play including a 1-5 run against them Indians. It is not why the finished so far back, but it certainly played a part in it.
The Reds offense scored 735 runs on 1,438 hits. The team batting average was .256 and that was good enough for just seventh best in their league. However, they led the NL in plate appearances, and the run total was second best. They also hit the second most home runs in the NL with 183. Of course, the rest of their extra base hit totals saw them finish in the bottom third. Reds hitters struck out 1,250 times and drew 535 walks.
The Cincinnati pitching staff gave up 720 runs on 1,414 hits. The staff ERA was 4.16 and that was the fifth worst team ERA in the senior circuit. Only one of their regular five starters reached double digit wins, but three of them did get nine wins. It really looks like this is a team that needs some help in the starting rotation. Most of their regular five have ERA closer to five than three and that is never good. They have a great closer, but getting to him seems to be an issue as the rest of the bullpen also had inflated ERA's. Reds pitchers struck out 1,112 batters and issued 539 walks.
In the end, it looks like the issues for this team lie with the pitching staff, as the starters simply did not perform all that great in 2011. I am also concerned about the ERA of their bullpen guys save the closer. They also could use some speed to go along with what appears to be some pretty decent power. I still think the Reds are close and if the pitchers can step it up a bit in 2012, they could be contenders.
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