Quick Hits: Reds, All-Stars, Schedules, and Strasburg.

Quick Hits

Cincinnati Reds:  The Reds just completed a great ninth inning comeback only to blow it in the tenth.  It's the kind of game that shows exactly what the Reds are about...plenty of heart but not enough relief pitching!  As I write this post (10:26 PM EST) the Cardinals are crushing the Diamondbacks which means by the time you read this the Reds will be in second place once again. 

All-Star Voting:  I give the Phillies credit for getting their players on the starting roster, but seriously, Polanco the starting third baseman?  Sorry, but I don't think so.  Wright, Zimmerman, Rolen (my choice but I'm biased) or even Chipper for a "lifetime nominee" would be better options this year.

Unbalanced Schedules & Interleague Play:  I've seen a bunch of articles and blogs lamenting the inherent inequities with unbalanced schedules, specifically in regards to interleague play.  To all of those authors, I say take a look at the standings in the paper before you complain any more...what do you notice?  That's right, the NL Central has six teams and the AL West has four teams.  Until each division winner has to defeat the same number of teams to get into the playoffs, I don't give a flying fruitcake about who has to play the Yankees more often or who "gets" to play the Orioles more often.

Strength of Schedule:  Going into last night's games, the Reds' opponent's winning percentage is 0.468, the Cardinals' opponent's winning percentage is 0.466.  At least that part of the schedule is basically balanced!

Strasburg:  I've seen this mentioned on a couple of other blogs - and if I happen to pull on in my half case of Ginter that I'm splitting with Thorzul you better believe I'll have that sucker on eBay quicker than lager turns to pee (keepin' the blog PG people).