36-year old lefty swinging Paul Bako has been awesome so far this season for the Reds. Bako has taken advantage of Dave Ross’ injury this season to show that he can still play. Bako has played in 25 games for the Reds this season and he is 25 for 80 (.313 avg, .920 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 3 homers and 11 RBIs. Bako came into this season having played in 646 games in his major league career and he had a .233 career batting average with a .621 OPS! So his hitting has been a huge surprise this season and he has done a good job with some of the young pitchers on the Reds.

Righty starter Edison Volquez has been awesome this season for the Reds. It hurt to trade Josh Hamilton to the Rangers as he was Player of the Month in the American League but that was really a trade that has been great for both teams. Volquez has started 6 games for the Reds this season and he is 4-1 with a 1.27 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He has only allowed 24 hits while whiffing 42 batters in only 35.1 innings so far this year. He will have to tighten his control a bit to remain effective all season as he has walked 18 batters already this year.