All Things Bubba

Tony Cingrani took a no-hitter into the 7th yesterday. It was just crazy. He faced only three batters per inning until the fifth, when he walked Denny Almonte, then promptly picked him off.

His line for the game: 8.0 innings pitched, 3 hits, no walks, 15 strikeouts. Yes, 15 strikeouts.

The knock on Cingrani had been that the Reds started him too low; as a college guy from an elite baseball program like Rice's, he was more developed than the players he was facing. But he's in AA now, and still mowing 'em down.

Labels: Tony Cingrani

Home Run

Paul Janish had another great game tonight. 3 for 5 with a home run, a double, a run scored, and 2 RBI. He’s now hitting .306 / .400 / .546.

Labels: Paul Janish

Paul Janish is today's cover boy at the Bats web site. Kind of a goofy photo, but better than that zombie Janish one.

The accompanying article is very nice.

Janish seemed to be in the middle of every major Louisville offensive output, scoring on the homer by Rhinehart, then homering himself to lead off the fifth. Janish finished 2-for-2 with three walks, three runs scored and two RBI.

Janish is starting at 3B tonight. He's batting third. I think it's the first time, at least this season.

Labels: Paul Janish

The Louisville Bats complete a 4-game sweep of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees tonight. Paul Janish had a fantastic night. He was perfect - got on every time he came to the plate. Three walks, a double, and a home run. Three runs scored and 2 RBI.

He picked a good night for it, too. Reds GM Walt Jocketty was reportedly at the ballpark tonight, to "observe."

Labels: Paul Janish

Paul Janish has started every game since he was activated. He's gotten on base at least once in each of the four games. A walk and a hit by pitch; a single; a walk and a reached on error; a double and a walk.

Last night's double was his first extra base hit since being activated. He also just missed a home run (it went foul). And had a spectacular defensive play (turned his back to the infield, ran out to center, and laid out to make a diving catch).

He's looked a little rusty to me, at the plate and in the field, but that's expected after being off for over a month. Nothing a few more games won't fix.

He's batting second tonight. His spot was 7th before he went on the DL. Even when he was blistering hot they didn't bat him any higher than 6th. Dunno if they want him to get more at-bats, or if they just don't have anyone else to bat second.

Labels: Paul Janish

According to the roster on the Louisville Bats Web site, Paul Janish has been activated. Jeez, they must have sent him to Arizona for all of three days.

Dunno if he'll be in the lineup; it hasn't been posted yet. But this looks like good news.

UPDATE: Janish is indeed in tonight's lineup. He's playing SS and batting second.

Labels: Paul Janish

According to Reds beat writer John Fay, Paul Janish may be activated from the DL very soon.

Shortstop Paul Janish is “very close” to returning with Triple-A Louisville. Janish suffered a fractured wrist when he was hit by a pitch on April 28. Janish was hitting .315 in with two home runs in 73 at-bats when he was hurt. He could return in the next couple of days.

A couple of days? They just sent him to Arizona on Monday. Seems kinda weird they'd ship him out west for just a few days.

Maybe it means he's hitting well out there. Would be nice to see him back in the lineup.

Also, MiLB.com has an article about Tony Cingrani. He discusses and grades each of his pitches. It sounds like the Reds are serious about giving him a shot as a starter.

Labels: Paul Janish, Tony Cingrani

Paul Janish with the Louisville hitting coach

I was at the Louisville Bats/SWB Yankees game yesterday. Or "Empire State Yankees," as Rochester insists on calling them, since they aren't playing in Scranton this year. The game was considered a Yankees home game, but was played at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY, home of the Twins' AAA affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings.

I saw Paul Janish on the field before the game. He'd apparently been working on his hitting with the Bats hitting coach. But I didn't see him after that. He wasn't in the dugout or coaching first base during the game.

Today we know why. He's been sent to Arizona, to work on getting "game fit." Matt Andrews, the Bats radio announcer, says he should be back in the lineup "very soon."

Labels: Paul Janish

The Yanks took Alabama's Taylor Dugar in the 8th round. He's very happy about it, because he's a long time Yankees fan...and because of his batting coach at Alabama, one Andy Phillips.

In addition to a history of allegiance to the Bronx Bombers, there's almost a more practical reason to be excited about being picked by the Yankees. Many of the school records Dugas broke during his senior season were set by Crimson Tide assistant coach Andy Phillips, who happened to play for the Yankees during his time in the Major Leagues.

"That's real good for me," Dugas said. "The Yankees still have a lot of the same coaches in their system. All the drills that I've been doing with Andy (for the last two seasons) at Alabama are drills he learned when he was with the Yankees."

I wonder if he'll be assigned to the Staten Island Yankees. Maybe I'll see him play, once Short-Season Class-A starts up.

Labels: Andy Phillips

There's a fascinating story about steroids by Tom Verducci in SI. It articulates very well the problem I have with 'roids. It's not the damage steroids can do to a player's health, the bad example set for kids, or the superstars with their "tarnished" records that bother me. Rather, it's all the guys who played the game clean, who lost out to the cheaters.

Ninety percent of all drafted players never spend one day in the big leagues. Steroid users made the odds even worse for clean players.

Thirty-three players appeared in at least one game for the 1994 Fort Myers Miracle. Only six of them reached the majors long enough to earn $500,000 in their careers. Half of those players are known PED users: Naulty, outfielder Matt Lawton (who tested positive in 2005) and pitcher Dan Serafini (who flunked a test in '07).

The article explains how the juicing worked. Players would do it in the off-season, and show up in spring training much bigger or faster than they'd been the previous year. Nobody asked any questions, and making a good impression in spring training was key. That could get you on the roster. Players who did not impress during spring training would be released. You might lose some of your new bulk as the season went on, but nobody thought that was suspicious.

The article also puts paid to the idea that "everyone" was cheating. A lot of players were, but many, many were not, and were shocked and angry when they found out a teammate was.

"I was pretty upset," Roberts says. "Gosh, it's hard enough trying to make it in this profession. You want to make it on your own abilities and work ethic, and all of a sudden, when you think it's an even playing field, you've got somebody cheating. I was very upset, knowing my chance to get to the big leagues was cut short. I was jealous, hurt, frustrated, angry ... all that stuff.

"I guess I should have been suspicious. How can a guy go from 85 miles an hour to 95 in three or four years? As I look back on it, it's so clear and obvious that I can't believe I was that naive and incredibly stupid. All the signs were there."

Labels: steroids