Mr. Redlegs is watching you. Always.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Cincinnati Reds: May 2012 Summary

The Reds went 17-11 in May to surge into first place in the NL Central, holding a lead of 1.5 games over the St. Louis Cardinals entering play June 1st.

Cincinnati won 5 series, split 3 and lost 2.


Home: 8-4
Road: 9-7
vs Central: 6-5
vs East: 7-4
vs West: 2-1
vs AL: 2-1

Overall offensive trends: Average stable at an ugly number (.240 April, .242 May).  OBP the same story: .306 in both months.  The only improvement was in power - slugging rose from .387 to .421, boosting the Reds' OPS+ from 95 to 98.  Bottom line: the Reds can win with this offense, but only if the pitching remains other-worldly.  They need to get on base more to help win this division.


Overall pitching trends: The starters posted almost identical, solid-but-not-spectacular numbers in May (3.86 ERA) relative to April (3.89).  The bullpen went from great to insanely great, lowering its ERA from 2.81 to 2.02 and its WHIP from 1.25 to 1.03.  All these numbers are good enough to make the playoffs.  Again, the question is offense.


Individual offensive trends:
UP significantly (40 or more OPS+ points): Votto, Heisey, Hanigan
DOWN significantly: Bruce, Cozart, Mesoraco
NOT MUCH CHANGE (GOOD): Phillips
NOT MUCH CHANGE (BAD): Stubbs


Individual pitching trends:
UP significantly: Latos, Bailey, Leake, Simon, LeCure, Marshall
DOWN significantly: Cueto, Arroyo, Ondrusek
NOT MUCH CHANGE (GOOD): Chapman, Arredondo

And finally, my "Randy Awards" for the month of May.

RANDY HITTER: 
Joey Votto - .355, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 23 walks
Honorable mention: Ryan Hanigan

RANDY MOST IMPROVED HITTER: 
Chris Heisey (raised his OPS+ by 46 points)

RANDY STARTER: 
Mat Latos (3-0, 3.26, and a 1.12 WHIP)
Honorable mention: Homer Bailey

RANDY MOST IMPROVED PITCHER: 
Mike Leake (his ERA was 2.1 runs lower)

RANDY RELIEVER: 
Aroldis Chapman (still sporting a 0.00 ERA, struck out 23 batters in May)

RANDY MOST IMPROVED RELIEVER: 
Sean Marshall (his ERA was 2.4 runs lower)

RANDY NEWBIE: 
JJ Hoover (0.90 ERA in 10 IP, 10 K) - yes he pitched in April, but May was his first full month with the Reds.



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