Reds Recap: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly For April 5, 2010

Opening Day is one of the greatest days in sports.  Hope springs eternal for all 30 teams on that one day each year, because maybe, just maybe this year will be their year.  This is true for even Pirates, Royals, and Nationals fans.  Maybe they can be the 2010 version of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.  We all remember the 2008 Rays.  They were the team that came out of nowhere to go to the World Series that year.  And on Opening Day 2008, I guarantee that no one had them as contenders.

So the season opened up in Cincinnati today.  Retired Reds broadcaster George Grande threw out the ceremonial first pitch to all-time great Johnny Bench.  Reds fans young and old piled into Great American Ballpark all hoping to see signs that the 2010 Reds team would be the first Reds team since 2001 to have a winning record.  And after Opening Day, many fans might be disappointed yet again.

It started off good enough for the Reds.  Aaron Harang looked sharp with the first two hitters, but then Albert Pujols came up and hit the first of two home-runs.  Note to pitchers everywhere: Do not, under any circumstances, pitch to Albert Pujols.  You can thank me later for that one.

So at the end of the day, the Reds could not overcome the Cardinals' offensive onslaught that included four homeruns and one grand slam in their 11-6 loss.  

The Good:

1. Joey Votto --> 3-5, HR 1 RBI, 2 Runs Scored

2. Scott Rolen --> 1-5, HR 1 RBI, but he was robbed of another HR by Colby Rasmus and hit the ball hard in four out of his five at-bats

3. Drew Stubbs --> 2-2, 1 RBI, 1 Run Scored after coming in late in the game as a pinch hitter, providing a spark off the bench

The Bad:

1. Aaron Harang --> 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER); He looked sharp in some instances and like the Harang who lost 14 games last year in others

2. Brandon Phillips --> 1-4, 2B 2 RBI, SB; On it's face this looks like a pretty good game, but his big hit came when the game was out of reach and had three bad at-bats when the game was still on the line

3. Orlando Cabrera --> 0-5, and looked a step or two slow in the field

The Ugly:

1. Nick Massett --> 1.0 IP, 3 H, 5 R (5 ER); He looked downright terrible after struggling mightily in the last half of 2009.  Part of this bad outing was giving up a grand slam to Yadier Molina.

2. Mike Lincoln --> 1.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER); Here's another one who looked terrible.  He came in and effectively pitched the Reds out of a close game.  He had an 8.44 ERA last year, and after this performance one has to ask...why is he still on this team?

3. Chris Dickerson --> 1-5; Yes he got a hit but that hit came when there was no pressure and the game was pretty much over.  After winning the opportunity to start in spring training, he looked over-matched at the plate and terrible in the field.