Some Days, You Hate Your Team Not Just Because They Lose to the Pirates, but for the Stupid Shit They Say Afterwards

I made the mistake of reading up on last night's Reds-Pirates game on mlb.com. Almost always a mistake; the quality of writing over there is abysmal. Here's what some guy named Mark Sheldon reports about last night's 4-3 Pirates win:

Through three starts, Arroyo is 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA. He has yet to pitch more than 5 2/3 innings.

"I wasn't particularly happy. It's pretty average," Arroyo said of his season thus far. "Nothing is clicking yet. You feel like you're running uphill a bit. I'm happy I kept us in the game, pretty much. I kept us close all three times, even though I don't feel like I've had the greatest stuff."

No, it's not average. Your WHIP is over 1.5 and your ERA+ is a miserable 81. You are throwing near 100 pitches in the first five innings of your starts.

Arroyo was finished after he threw 102 pitches. High pitch counts have been a running theme so far, but the right-hander wasn't worried.

"Sometimes, when you're facing the same guys year in and year out, they tend to start swinging at your stuff early, knowing you're going to be around the plate," Arroyo said. "I don't want to fall victim to guys by me throwing too many strikes. I tried to pull things out of the zone early in the game and get them off some pitches, which gets the pitch count up sometimes."

Is this a new philosophy of pitching? Don't throw too many strikes because you're facing the same guys year in and year out?

I think that's been the key to Greg Maddux's success. Since he's faced the same guys year in and year out for two decades in the NL, they know he's going to be around the plate. He must be avoiding strikes. No, actually, he's gone six and seven innings in his two starts and thrown fewer pitches in both outings.

Or maybe he just changes speeds. Bronson is probably too busy styling his hair or playing his guitar to figure that out.

I think it's safe to say that Bronson's revolutionary "Don't Throw Strikes" theory isn't going to have a profound effect on the game.

In the seventh, the Reds loaded the bases with three one-out singles and did not score. For the third time in two nights, normally clutch hitter Edwin Encarnacion made the third out with the bases loaded.

He did hit a game-ending home run after failing to get a bunt down.That was one at-bat. Considering the entirety of his career, none of his "clutch stats" show that he is at all more likely to get a hit when his team needs it.

"It seems like the hit keeps eluding us and they keep getting it," Baker said. "That's the name of the game. He who gets the most two-out hits usually wins."

I'm glad you are managing, Dusty. Why don't you spend less time spouting useless crap like this and more time yelling at your #2 starter, who has apparently decided that his best pitching approach is to avoid throwing strikes?

Ugh. It could be a long season.