Sunday, June 07, 2009

DFA Mike Lincoln

2 comments:

Nachos Grande said...

Agreed - although I tried to offer Jocketty some alternatives on my blog since he seems incapable of making any type of decision (whether it's with the DL or crappy players...)

Anonymous said...

I disagree. So far. Lincoln - I believe (hope, anyway) - is suffering under too little work. Who would have imagined that the bullpen would have been underused because of the stability of the front five? (Well, I imagined it...) But when Dusty chooses to carry 12 pitchers and now 13 through the interleague play, it's going to be tough finding innings for everyone (unless they keep playing extra innings).

I'm old enough to remember when the Reds (and everyone else!) carried 10 pitchers. Four starters and six relievers. Simple. That left 6 men on the bench. Check out this, for example:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1972.shtml

Throughout the entire 1972 season, the Reds used 11 pitchers, and one of them - Jim Merrit, only appeared in four games. But, hey, back then pitchers were used to working for a living. These "situational righthanders" and "situational southpaws" have ruined the game. They need to stretch their arms out a bit and pitch 40-50 pitches every other night.

Then we can carry 11 pitchers (5 starters instead of 4 back in the 70's) and a couple extra bench players.

If we were to turn the clock back and reduce the pitching staff to 11, yes, we can do without Lincoln. When Dusty sends a pitcher out (reducing to 12) in a couple weeks time, it may well be Lincoln. But only because Daniel Herrera and Carlos Fisher rock!

Gary M.