I say you sit Double E. Let Hamilton play a majority of the time, spot him here and there.

 

Keep Freel leading off, Phillips 2nd and Hamilton third. I know Dunn doesn't like cleanup or the 5th spot, but that's the way it goes. Course I'm not a baseball expert by any means, but that's what I would do.

Sit Freel. He's not a great contact hitter and he plays much better off the bench or as the utility guy.

No way can you sit EE! I know he is slumping but he is the best hitter we have from the right side of the plate.

Problem with benching EE is that he is young. Are you writing him off? How is he supposed to get his swing and groove back sitting on the bench? Do you send him down to get his swing back? Does it do him any good to play 1-2 a week and pinchhitting the other times?

Or We could put Encarncion at 1B and Freel at 3rd. But IMO I think we need to sit Freel and Start Hamilton, I think Freel is most affective when he doenst know when or where he is going to start and plays balls to the walls a full 9 innings, it seems to me since he has been an everyday starter, that he seems to be playing more through the motions and i think he feels to comfortable.

No way can you sit EE! I know he is slumping but he is the best hitter we have from the right side of the plate.

E-5 has the most POTENTIAL from the right side, but he still has a lot of it to live up to. In the short term I'm not opposed to giving Freel a few starts at 3B to get Hobbs on the field...

Well the Reds will be done with Griffey after next year, so hopefully the Reds can give Hamilton a permanent spot on the field soon enough.

Or We could put Encarncion at 1B and Freel at 3rd. But IMO I think we need to sit Freel and Start Hamilton, I think Freel is most affective when he doenst know when or where he is going to start and plays balls to the walls a full 9 innings, it seems to me since he has been an everyday starter, that he seems to be playing more through the motions and i think he feels to comfortable.

No No No. Hatte and Conine are perfect fits to platoon at 1B. The logical thing to do is give Freel his utility role back where he can get starts at 3rd, RF, or CF when people get off days.

E-5 has the most POTENTIAL from the right side, but he still has a lot of it to live up to. In the short term I'm not opposed to giving Freel a few starts at 3B to get Hobbs on the field...

 

I wouldn't oppose this. Especially with a struggling hitter like EE, Freel could get some starts at 3B, then move to CF and give Griff a day off while RH plays RF. Freel could still be in the lineup, we would just be giving different players time off.

Well the Reds will be done with Griffey after next year, so hopefully the Reds can give Hamilton a permanent spot on the field soon enough.

I get more and more frustarted with Griff everyday.

Well the Reds will be done with Griffey after next year, so hopefully the Reds can give Hamilton a permanent spot on the field soon enough.

 

I really wish they would trade him....It would be best for both parties...

I really wish they would trade him....It would be best for both parties...

:thumb: :thumb:

No way you bench EE, the solution like stated a few posts ago is Freel goes back to his utility spot.

I really wish they would trade him....It would be best for both parties...

Should have pulled the trigger last year before Jr. got hurt. I'd say he has less value now. I still think DH in the AL is Jrs best bet at prolonging his career.

1. Props to C.Trent for acknowledging that Dunn in the run-down wasn't a blunder (one hopper to the mound after a secondary lead is no-man's land) but in fact gave him credit for waving Conine to 2B and staying hung up long enough to get him there.

 

2. The ump didn't signal infield fly (second-base ump) until Weeks jumped. Watch the right arm of the ump; it goes up right as Weeks is leaving his feet. It should be called immediately, not that late, and certainly not when you see the fielder has positioned himself to make the play difficult. Horrible call.

 

3. Milton went 5 innings with 3 runs (2 earned). A 3.60 era isn't the end of the world, but you need more innings than that. Not to mention, I think righties are hitting about .450 off of him. Brutal.

 

4. UKMF, out of respect to you, I refuse to comment on our right-fielder. :sssh:

 

5. Coffey was horrible, but I think (hope) that is an aberration and not a trend.

 

6. Hamilton isn't going to play against lefties. Get used to it. However, he'd play everyday against righties and I'd give Freel 1/3 of those days off, 1/3 at 3B and 1/3 at 2B. Keep in mind, not everyone will stay healthy all year (UKMF, I'm resisting....resisting....) so this will eventually fix itself. If you want to spot start Hamilton against a lefty you can then give #3 or #44 a day off against a tough lefty.

 

7. Belisle and Lohse better keep pitching above their head or this group could go south quickly.

 

8. With Gonzalez out, the bottom 1/3rd of our line-up is anemic. Really, the last 4 if Willie Greene doesn't consistently break out of his funk. He had a big 2-out hit last night, let's hope that it kick starts him. However, almost as important, we need Willie to make the routine play in the field and he booted an easy play last night. Up until now, his defense (once shaky) had been pretty good this year.

 

9. While still early, I think we'll have a pretty good idea what this team is made of when we look at the standings on Friday morning, May 4 (Oaks Day!!). 13 of the next 16 against division foes, 9 of them on the road, 5 of them against the Astros. If we are solid on the morning of the 4th, we could be okay for a while. If they are in 5th on the 4th ( ), than the pre-season experts were probably right.