Yankees vs Reds

Interesting series this past weekend. Much like the series where the Yanks played the Rockies last year and I got a man crush on Matt Holliday it seems that the man crush has left the Rocky Mountains and headed east toward the 'Natti.

I know that everyone seems to have a man crush on Jay Bruce; I on the other hand have fallen head over heels for Joey Votto.

As David Cone mentioned in the broadcast yesterday, the Reds are full of guys that belong at a casting call on The Sopranos. Even though the guys he mentioned had Spanish names not Italian.
But my boy Joey full fledged Canadian-Italian.

Votto's first inning at baseball's cathedral was spectacular. In his first at bat, he took a Mike Mussina pitch and crushed it about 10 rows deep in the right-centerfield bleachers. Then in the bottom of the inning, he made a specatular stab at first base. He went to the right and snagged a ball that took a bad hop. It was a great play by a very athletic fielder. He finished the series 7-for-12.

The Reds look set for the future. They have two potential 30-40 homerun guys in Bruce and Votto. And they have two big pieces they could trade, in Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr., which could get them some quality major league ready prospects. Their pitching staff has some nasty stuff but they suffer from playing in a Little League ballpark. Michael Kay made a good point on the air saying that the Reds need to have guys that strike people out on their staff not guys that are "fly ball pitchers." And from watching this weekend series where their three top prospects were put on display, I'd have to say they look like they'd be a good fit.