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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2010 > March > 03
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Harang is not Mr. Excitement
The thing about Aaron Harang is that you don’t know when he is excited. He might say he is excited, but his body language and voice indicate he is about as excited as a lump of coal on a shovel in front of a furnace.
That’s his demeanor. And maybe that’s why he never seems flustered on the mound. You can’t tell when things are going good or things are going bad.
So when he said today that he is excited about pitching Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds, you listen to his words and take his word for it.
AND HERE is what he said about being named the Opening Day starter against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Dusty let me know yesterday,” Harang said with a droll voice. “I’m excited about it. It is an honor to get to start Opening Day in Cincinnati.”
Harang loves it that he ties Mario Soto for consecutive Opening Day starts at five because Soto is in camp as an instructor.
“That’s an honor, too, to be mentioned in the same category as Mario Soto,” said Harang. “He is a quality pitcher and it is nice having him around to learn some stuff.”
And Harang says he is new and improved after making some adjustments this winter.
“I made some tweaks mechanically and figured some things out when I talked with some guys at home,” he said. “Then I talked with (new pitching coach) Bryan Price, who had watched video of me, and he mentioned the same things that I tweaked. I told him I was working on fixing those and he said, ‘Well, you’re ahead of what I was going to do to help fix stuff.’’ So I feel good the way things are going in camp. The ball is coming out free and easy.”
WHEN Harang walked into the clubhouse today his head was shaved and somebody said, “Happy haircut.” Ah, haircuts.
Hairstyles in the Reds clubhouse run the gamut. There is Jonny Gomes with his full brush Mohawk. And then there is Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez. At the risk of not sounding politically correct because this is the only way to describe their hairstyles, they have the Buckwheat cut from the old Our Gang movies.
Coach Ted Power pointed to catcher Corky Miller and said, “Now that’s my kind of haircut.” Miller doffed his hat to reveal no haircut at all, just very long, stringy hair.
MANAGER DUSTY Baker revealed his rotation by turn as Harang, Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey and whomever is No. 5. When somebody asked about the rotation farther down the pike, Baker laughed and said, “What? You want me to name my starter for the first game of the playoffs? (He wishes he could do that.) Then he pointed to a book on his desk and said, “You better read what I’m reading.”
The book? The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle.
THE REDS play a six-inning intrasquad game Thursday before Friday’s opener in Goodyear Stadium against the Cleveland Indians. Aaron Harang starts for one team and Homer Bailey for the other. Both will pitch one inning. Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman is schdeduled for an inning, too.
Goodyear Stadium is nearly a half-mile, maybe more, from the Reds practice complex and clubhouse.
Baker laughed and said, “I’m going to tell the players that if they have a bad game in Goodyear I’m going to make them walk home (back to the clubhouse).”
Baker said he is happy to be able to put pitchers on the Goodyear mound, all by themselves. “After pitching for a couple of weeks side-by-side with five or six other pitchers, when you stand alone on the mound in the stadium the field looks huge. This lets them get comfy.”
NOW IT’S time to find a place for dinner. So far, near my hotel in Goodyear I’ve spotted: Augie’s Sports Grille, Panda Express, McDonald’s, Subway and Pollo Loco. Looks like a long drive for an upscale meal.
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TweetArroyo says no, Harang says yes
His numbers indicate that Aaron Harang might not deserve to be the Opening Day starter and that maybe the guy shouldn’t even be guaranteed a spot in the rotation.
The numbers say Bronson Arroyo should start Opening Day - but that isn’t the case. Harang is starting Opening Day for the fifth straight year and Arroyo is slotted into the No. 3 spot.
Numbers, as we all know, can lie like a witness defending his best friend.
The numbers say Harang is 12-31 over the last two years over 55 starts, but there are, as they say in a courtroom, extenuating circumstances - run support being at the top of the list and injuries being in the middle of the list.
Bronson Arroyo is 30-24 the past two seasons over 67 starts and has not missed a start. He is as reliable as a rooster at sunrise - except he prefers not to pitch day games and Opening Day is a day game.
And Arroyo finished the season with 13 straight quality starts, going 5-4 with a 2.06 earned run average.
Shouldn’t he be the Opening Day starter? What do you think?
Well, manager Dusty Baker asked him and Arroyo said he would prefer NOT to be the Opening Day starter April 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“If I had my choice, I’d rather pitch No. 2 or No. 3,” said Arroyo. “Cincinnati is one of the few places that Opening Day is like a holiday. For that reason, it’s a little tough to concentrate. There is so much stuff going on, so I’d rather enjoy the day and soak in all the festivities and then pitch the next game.
“It is not a big deal to me to be in the one-hole,” he said. “I pitched in the five-hole in Boston and ended up facing five or six No. 1s during the season. Once you get a rain out or an off day or somebody is sore and gets bumped back a day or two, the match-ups all change and it doesn’t matter.
“And despite what it looks like the last couple of years, Aaron is more equipped to pitch in that role,” he said. “His stuff never changes. Even the days he doesn’t succeed he is still 90 to 92 with a nasty slider. He doesn’t vary a whole lot. For me, when I have a bad day, they are really bad. Sometimes my stuff isn’t quite as consistent.”
Baker said he talked to both Harang and Arroyo and knows, “That won’t be a popular decision, but Harang seems to pitch better against top pitchers. And it doesn’t matter after Day One.”
Arroyo won’t be No. 2, either. He’ll be No. 3. The rotation will be Harang, Johnny Cueto, Arroyo, Homer Bailey and No. 5, whomever that may be.
Why?
“Innings,” said Baker. “We wrestled with it big time. I talked long and hard with pitching coach Bryan Price and Harang and Arroyo. We’re breaking up Harang and Arroyo because you know they are going to give you innings. Cueto is not as consistent. Harang and Arroyo are consistent in giving us inning. Bailey you don’t know and the fifth starter you don’t know.
“So we’re breaking up Harang and Arroyo so we don’t tax the bullpen,” Baker said. “What if you have Harang and Arroyo back-to-back and the next three guys aren’t pitching well? You kill your bullpen. Then you get back to Harang and you have to stick with him longer because the bullpen is spent.”
Asked about Arroyo opting out of Opening Day, Baker smiled and said, “Nobody is more honest than Bronson. You may not like his answers but his answers are going to be honest. I love that. I ask you a question I want an honest answer. Don’t give me no bull, just give me an honest answer. Whether I understand it or like it doesn’t matter. That’s neither here nor there.
“Bronson said he doesn’t care if he is No. 4 or No. 5, that he likes being the under-the-radar guy,” Baker said. “That are always subliminal messages if you listen to what they are saying.”
Harang said as soon as he heard Arroyo preferred not to pitch Opening Day, he went to Baker and said, “I want the ball. Give me the ball.”
Done.
(LATER TODAY: Harang’s reaction to pitching Opening Day for the fifth straight year, tying the club record set by Pete Donohue (1923-27) and Mario Soto (1982-82).
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