All Things Bubba

It's Leap Day. In the un-liberated days of yore, Leap Day was the day when a woman could ask a man to marry her. If he refused, he had to pay a penalty, such as giving her money or buying her a new dress.

My Uncle Richard was born on Leap Day. (That was considered very unlucky in Scotland. Luckily, he's not Scottish.) My dad (his brother) teases him about being only 12 years old. (Thirteen as of today. ;-)

Andy Phillips was not in the starting lineup today, but was subbed in at 1B after Votto was pulled. He was 0 for 1 with a walk. The Reds lost, 6-7. Tom Shearn gave up the winning run in the 9th.

It's very early, but Paul Janish is having a nice spring training so far. He's really impressing with his glove, and the bat's not bad, either. He went 1 for 2 with a double today.

Today the Reds announced that A-Gon has a compression fracture in his knee, and will be out at least three weeks. If he's not ready to play by the time the season starts, the Reds will need a shortstop. There's the slick-fielding Juan Castro, who is no longer slick-fielding and can't hit a lick. There's Jeff Keppinger, a fan favorite who can play SS but doesn't really have the range for it.

And there's Janish. He's supposedly got a good glove, but a light bat. However, he's hitting well, and light bat or no, he's better than Castro.

Janish just might be in a sort of sweet spot for the Reds. Good enough that they are willing to let him start every day, not so good that they are hesitant to start his arb clock. Eh, probably not. It will probably be Castro or Kepp. But if Janish hits well in spring training, they just may give him a shot.

Meanwhile, Seattle won 5-3 over the Giants. Miggy Cairo led off and went 1 for 3. Sardinha wasn't in the starting lineup, but was subbed into CF later. He was 0 for 3.

It was Bedard vs. Lincecum, and though Seattle prevailed, it was no thanks to Bedard. He had a rough couple of innings (and now has an ERA of 13.50 to show for it). Hey, it's the first game of spring training.