Edgar Renteria left the game last night with a groin strain. He'll be evaluated this morning to see if he has to go on the DL, but whatever they decide, it looks like Paul Janish will be starting again for awhile.
If I were the superstitious type, I'd think that someone up there wants Janish to start. Every time Dusty benches him, something happens that gets him back in the lineup.
It's probably in the Reds' interest to get Janish more playing time this year. He'll probably be back on the team next year, if only as a backup, and he is still adjusting to the big leagues. (He's got about 800 at-bats, spread out over four years. Bobby Murcer used to say that you saw a big improvement once a player had 2,000 to 2,500 at-bats.) Renteria probably won't be back next year, and at his age, more at-bats aren't going to make him any better.
And it's not clear Renteria is a better option even if the plan is to win now (which it shouldn't be - the Reds are out of it at this poing). Defense was brutal for the Reds last night. Though Renteria had a RBI double, it didn't make up for the runs he let score with his porous defense at SS.
Chien-Ming Wang had a pretty good night, starting for the Nationals. He repeated a pattern he used to have with the Yankees for awhile: bad first inning, then solid after that. His sinker doesn't have the velocity it used to have; perhaps that will come back in time. He's still an excellent fielder, which is a good thing for a groundball pitcher. Wang was always one of my favorites, so I was glad to see him doing well.
Labels: Paul Janish
