The Cincinnati Reds completed the sweep Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals, and now hold a 1 1/2 game lead in the NL Central. Everything looks great in Redsland, right? Yes, but what I'm worried about is The Letdown.
Cincinnati starts a pair of 2 game series this week at home, first against the Cubs, then Pittsburgh. The team is healthy, Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto have returned to solidify the starting lineup, Scott Rolen is back in the lineup and his value goes way beyond statistics, and it look like everything is in place to make a run to pull away from the pack. But how do they react to taking three at home against their nemesis.
If the Reds get too cocky, they will be lucky to take one of the next four games. But having been through this last year, and especially with Rolen back to keep everything on an even keel, I believe the Reds can use this as a building block to even greater success this season.
By the way, if anyone knows what has happened to Aroldis Chapman and why he can't find the strike zone please let me know. One luxury the Reds have is a deep farm system, and if Chapman gets sent down to Louisville for a little tweaking the impact of his loss will easily be offset by bringing up Matt Maloney. How many teams are looking at the Cincinnati farm system and wishing they were that deep all over the field?
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