The Cincinnati Reds were shut out in game 3, their World Series bid ended in the first round.
Paul Janish never got into the game. Orlando Cabrera was 0-3, and worse, had a throwing error that allowed a run to score. I can't help suspecting the bad throw was related to his rib cage injury. Cueto gave up a home run in the 5th, so I guess I can't blame the loss solely on the Cabrerror, but it's still aggravating. Janish hits lefties in general, and Cole Hamels in particular. Might have been a different story if he started instead of Slo-Cab.
Janish was philosophical on the last-minute lineup change. I was less so. I was especially peeved when the media quoted Cabrera as saying this might be his last post-season game, so he wanted to be sure he played. Maybe he didn't mean it as it sounded, but man, that sounds selfish.
But in the end, the buck stops with Dusty Baker. He should have had the 'nads to sit Cabrera. Cabrera is not better than Janish at this point in their careers, and an injured Cabrera certainly isn't.
Reds beat writer John Fay has a breakdown of the Reds contract situation. Here's what he says about Cabrera:
Orlando Cabrera: There is a mutual option for $4 million. I don’t see the Reds picking that up. Paul Janish is better defensively and has come on offensively.
I hope he's right, because if there's anything worse than Orlando Cabrera at SS, it's a one-year-older Orlando Cabrera at shortstop.
Of course, the Reds might go out and sign another Cabrera-type to replace him. That hasn't worked very well for them over the past few years, though, so I'm hoping they do something different this time. Commit to Janish and let him start. Trading for a top of the line shortstop would be very expensive, and the Reds have other holes to fill (left field), and better uses for the money (locking up Joey Votto and Jay Bruce). I suspect Walt Jocketty was hoping Zack Cozart would be ready this year, but he didn't play any better in AAA this year than Janish did in his AAA days, and Janish is probably the better option, for now. Cozart was not even called up in September, even though he has to be added to the roster this fall if the Reds want to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Labels: Paul Janish
