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This came up a couple times from readers in my chat session Tuesday, suggesting that the Cincinnati Reds may not be as strong as their 27-18 record because they've had an easy schedule so far, in particular compared to the Cardinals and Braves. In...

A quick warning about Jurickson Profar's call to the majors to replace the disabled Ian Kinsler: Do not expect Mike Trout; do not expect Bryce Harper; do not expect Manny Machado. Yes, the performance of those three wunderkinds has, unfortunately,...

The hottest team in baseball is those Cleveland Indians, and we don't need instant replay to prove it. The Tribe has won 10 of 11 with terrific pitching and more than a few home runs. Mark Reynolds leaves nothing to chance with 500-foot blasts. Scott...

On Friday afternoon, Aroldis Chapman had a rare bad outing trying to finish up the Cincinnati Reds' 6-2 lead over the Chicago Cubs. So bad, in fact, that manager Dusty Baker actually removed his Proven Closer (tm) for J.J. Hoover with the game on the...

With Mike Trout currently batting second for the Angels, Eric Karabell wondered: Who is the game's best leadoff hitter right now? Time for a quick debate! Eric: Austin Jackson I'll go with Detroit Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson. He's not of...

Eric Karabell and I briefly raised this question a couple weeks ago on a SweetSpot TV: Which team is most collapse-proof? Or, to rephrase it, which is least likely to go all 2012 Red Sox on us? At the time, we mentioned the Reds, but I'm not so sure ...

Consider that the Cincinnati Reds entered Monday's home game against the Philadelphia Phillies having lost five games in a row. Aroldis Chapman, the relief pitcher deemed so valuable as a late-inning reliever that the Reds backed off their plan to mo...

Quick thoughts on Thursday's action ... One of the fun things about opening week is overreacting to just a few game results. Hey, we all do it. So when the Toronto Blue Jays lost their first two games and then saw the Cleveland Indians score thre...

OK, here are my final AL standings. Here are the NL standings. Yes, we can all laugh at this at the end of the season. FYI: All runs scored and allowed totals add up, as do wins and losses. For wins and losses, I merely took each team's projected run...

In my previous post, I ran down the American League poll results from the offseason report cards. Here are the National League results. As in the AL, fans are optimistic cross the board. For those who argue baseball lacks parity, tell that to base...

Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports the Cincinnati Reds are expected to announce today that Aroldis Chapman will return to the bullpen, where he will pitch one inning at a time, often protecting three-run leads that are held 99 percent ...

OK, now that I've finished all 30 offseason report cards, we can essentially use my final grades to give us Power Rankings (you can get all the report cards at the bottom of this page). Washington Nationals: A Atlanta Braves: A- Cincinnati Reds:...

Bovada.lv has released its 2013 over/under win totals. The following information is presented for entertainment purposes only: Arizona Diamondbacks: 81.5 Atlanta Braves: 88.5 Baltimore Orioles: 78.5 Boston Red Sox: 82.5 Chicago Cubs: 72.5 Chi...

There's the old story about Cool Papa Bell being so fast that he once bunted the ball and was tagged out at third base. You get the idea that Cincinnati Reds prospect Billy Hamilton is even faster than that. After he set the all-time minor league ...

Jerry Crasnick has a story today on Aroldis Chapman's conversion from the bullpen to the Cincinnati Reds' rotation. It's a two-park risk equation, of course: 1) Losing Chapman's dominance out of the bullpen (38 saves, 1.51 ERA, 15.3 K's per nine, ...

Another list of one-hit wonders: Guys who had one big season. Here's the American League East, AL Central, AL West and National League East. Chicago Cubs I didn't search for long before finding this season: Rick Wilkins in 1993. A third-year catc...