April 4th, 2010 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
One of the nice things about the beginning of the regular season is that all 30 MLB teams are 0-0 and everyone is on equal footing. And that certainly applies for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.
The Cardinals come to Great American Ball Park loaded, both with the bats and their pitching arms. Cris Carpenter gets the Opening Day start for St. Louis while Cincinnati counters with Aaron Harang.
With the Cardinals, it begins and ends with the duo of Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. But the pair are only going to be successful contingent on the on-base ability of Skip Schumacher and either Brendan Ryan and/or Colby Rasmus. If they get on base, then Pujols and Holliday will see pitches to hit.
Speed isn’t a real strong suit in this edition of the Cards; but then again, they probably will not have to rely on it as much as in the past. As creative as manager Tony LaRussa can be, the speed option will make for some creative lineups during their regular season.
Yadier Molina has the arm to neutralize the Reds’ running game, should they opt to liven things up on the basepaths. The Reds do have some stolen base potential vs. Molina as Chris Dickerson, Drew Stubbs and on the rare occasion, Brandon Phillips.
But like the Cards, the Reds’ bats will dictate their future success. While they don’t match the power plant of St. Louis, the Reds do have some power options in Jay Bruce, Jonny Gomes, Scott Rolen and Phillips. But again, the leadoff batter and preferably the #2 man in the lineup, as well, will need to get on-base for the heart of the lineup to realize some resemblance of success.
Ramon Hernandez isn’t going to remind folks of Johnny Bench, but at the same time, he isn’t Jason LaRue, either. He’s in the lineup for his bat, not his arm.
Below is The Reds Report’s projected Opening Day starting lineup for the Cincinnati Reds on Monday:
- Drew Stubbs (CF)
- Orlando Cabrera (SS)
- Joey Votto (1B)
- Brandon Phillips (2B)
- Jay Bruce (RF)
- Scott Rolen (3B)
- Jonny Gomes (LF)
- Ramon Hernandez (C)
- Aaron Harang (SP)
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I just checked out Mitchell Karasik pre season report on the Reds, he discuses 5 Key Points the Reds need to address. Over all i thought it was good. just wanted to share.
http://www.lockerblogger.com/videos/lockerblogger/60-cincinnati-reds-preview
Im really looking forward to this season
For the most part, he’s spot on, except for the fact that Heisey’s now in Louisville. I don’t expect Heisey to come to Cincinnati until probably when the teams are allowed to expand their rosters later during the season.
But Chapman I expect to be in Cincinnati around June or so as the 5th starter’s spot is iffy, at best.
I hate their sutipd Tomahawk Chop too. Not because it’s offensive but because it’s just gay. I hope the Reds crush them if they get to play them, but I think we’ll be the ones to put them away for good. I was also happy that Bobby Cox got his 2500th win…after we swept them to the gutter.