MLB cincinnati Reds

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Marlins and Tigers are on fire.

Exactly two weeks ago, Florida was eight games behind Philadelphia. Since then the Marlins have gone 9-3, all in interleague play, to close within a game of first place. The hot streak includes four one-run wins and Thursday's 11-3 victory that sealed a sweep of the Orioles and ran Florida's win streak to five.

During this 12-game stretch, Hanley Ramirez has batted .400 with three home runs (one of them a grand slam Thursday) and 19 RBI while Cody Ross has hit .400 with five homers and 12 RBI.

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Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That talk about maple bats has died down since last year, but the problem is still there. For proof, look at what nearly happened to Red Sox shortstop Nick Green during Wednesday night's game. The Nationals' Elijah Dukes shattered his bat on a swing, with the pieces of the bat and the ball heading simultaneously toward Green.

Green managed to avoid both. The ball got into the outfield for a hit, but the threat to Green was apparent when the shattered barrel of Dukes bat stuck in the ground like a stake near Green.

"It's scary to see a bat go flying that far," pitcher Jon Lester said. "I thought they did some research this offseason to try to figure that stuff out, but obviously we've still got a long ways to go. You've got to take cover. It's a tough play to make when you've got a bat head flying at you looking to take your head off."

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As the Reds linger around in the NL Central race -- a.k.a. The Race No One Seems to Want to Win -- they could really use the services of last year's ace, Edinson Volquez. The right-hander who went 17-6 last season has been on the disabled list since June 2 with elbow tendinitis. Initial plans were to activate Volquez quite soon.

Those plans have now been put on hold because a recent MRI (the second one taken during last homestand) revealed muscle inflammation in Volquez's forearm, and they have completely shut him down until it subsides.

Now that Joey Votto is back in Toronto with the Reds, he's a little more willing to talk about the circumstances that led to his time on the disabled list with what the team termed "stress-related issues." Tuesday he talked to the Cincinnati Enquirer's John Fay and told him that his father's death last August led to depression and panic attacks that eventually landed him on the disabled list.

I suppose some people will question Votto for this, but when you read his full statement, it's clear that he went through a pretty dark place this spring when his illness and subsequent inner ear infection piled on top of the grief and depression he went through over the winter. It was all just too much for him to juggle with baseball and that's when he went on the disabled list. Part of his statement is after the jump.

One would think that the role of "person required to pull a tarp across the ground when it rains at a Cincinnati Reds ballgame" is pretty simple, right? I mean, the Reds have basked in mediocrity for years, so it's not like they expect a ton from their ground crew. Yet, the poor girl in the following video found out the hard way (being swept under the tarp) that it's not all fun and games at the Great American Ballpark. It's OK to laugh -- she's fine. The fun starts around the 40-second mark.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

As Joey Votto heads out to a rehab assignment, the Reds are anxiously awaiting the return of their best hitter. Votto hasn't started a game since May 27 -- when the Reds stood at 26-20. Since then, they've gone 8-11. As a team, the Reds are hitting .244 and rank 11th in the National League in runs scored. Votto is hitting .357 with eight home runs and 33 RBI in only 38 games. Translation: The Reds really, really need him. They aren't the only team in baseball that will be missing a star player in the upcoming weeks. After the jump, we'll list the Top 10 most important injuries in baseball moving forward in 2009.

The NL Central is in a weird sort of stasis field right now. The teams at the top aren't playing particularly well, while the teams at the bottom aren't playing particularly poorly. That's created a compacted division where, entering play Tuesday, every team, from the Astros at the bottom to the Brewers at the top, is within 4 1/2 games. With a division this close, its conceivable that anything could tip the balance right now. That means it's good news for the Reds that Joey Votto is expected to begin his rehab assignment soon.

Dusty Baker told the Cincinnati Enquirer this afternoon that Votto's been swinging the bat and should start working out with the team soon with a rehab assignment closely following. The Reds don't want to rush him, but their lineup could certainly use his .627 slugging percentage back as soon as possible

WASHINGTON -- Reds manager Dusty Baker called his team's three-day visit to the nation's capital "taxing." Two rain delays and a 12-inning game -- even if it's a win -- have a way of leaving that impression.

So does blowing a 2-1 lead and a series sweep in the eighth inning of the finale on an error.

That's just what happened to Cincinnati Thursday evening. Second baseman Brandon Phillips compounded some spotty relief work by the soft underbelly of the Cincy bullpen by throwing the ball away on a double-play attempt in the eighth. The error wound up plating the decisive run for the Nationals in a 3-2 win and cost the Reds a chance to move within a 1/2 game of first place in the NL Central.

Phillips was unapologetic for the airmailed throw that went past first baseman Adam Rosales and scored Washington shortstop Cristian Guzman.

SECAUCUS, N.J. – The latest estimate of the top eight in today's baseball draft, according to a major-league source:

1. Washington, Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State

2. Seattle, Dustin Ackley, 1B/OF, North Carolina

3. San Diego, Donovan Tate, OF, Cartersville, Ga.

4. Pittsburgh, Tony Sanchez, C, Boston College.

5. Baltimore, Zach Wheeler, RHP, East Paulding, Ga.

6. San Francisco, Tyler Matzek, LHP, Capistrano Valley, Calif.

7. Atlanta, Mike Minor, LHP, Vanderbilt

8. Cincinnati, Alex White, RHP, North Carolina

Also, if Minor is picked in the top nine, as expected, Washington will take Stanford RHP Drew Storen with the No. 10 pick.

After Edinson Volquez left his return start from the DL on Monday with numbness in his pitching fingers, there was reason for a lot of worry in Redsland. As Prez noted yesterday, that's a symptom often associated with ligament damage that can lead to Tommy John surgery. Luckily for the Reds, that doesn't appear to be the case with Volquez.

Volquez is back on the disabled list, but the Reds are calling the injury tendinitis and say there's nothing structurally wrong with Volquez's elbow, which is good. From the same link, Dusty Baker sounds awfully relieved about the diagnosis for his ace, which will keep him from throwing the ball for about a week but doesn't require surgery.