The Reds were expecting big things out of 28-year old righty reliever Nick Masset as they planned to use him as Francisco Cordero’s top set-up man based on how well he pitched last season. He pitched in 74 games (0 starts) for the Reds last season and he was 5-1 with a 2.37 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. The things that made Masset such a good pitcher last season (throwing strikes and missing bats) have eluded him big time so far this season. Masset has pitched in 34 games (0 starts) for the Reds this year and he is 3-3 with 1 save, a 7.07 ERA and a 2.04 WHIP. He has given up 41 hits (5 homers) in only 28 innings this season while walking 16 batters. But he has struck out 37 batters this season showing that he has the stuff needed to turn things around and the Reds desperately need him to do so.

Switch hitting 2B/3B/OF Pete Rose was a great baseball player and he showed that right away winning the 1963 Rookie of the Year Award in the N.L. Rose played in 157 games in 1963 in which he was 170 of 623 (.273 avg, .705 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 6 homers, 41 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Rose won the N.L. batting title three times with the Reds. He also was a All-Star 13 times in Cincinnati while winning 2 Gold Gloves. Rose was the MVP of the N.L. in 1973 when he played in 160 games and was 230 of 680 (.338 avg, .838 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 5 homers, 64 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Rose only whiffed 42 times in 1973 while walked 65 times as he showed an outstanding eye. Rose played in 2,722 games in his 19 years with the Reds in which he was 3,358 of 10,934 (.307 avg, .804 OPS) with 1,741 runs scored, 152 homers, 1,036 RBIs and 146 stolen bases. Rose is the Reds’ all-time leader in games played (2,722), hits (3,358), doubles (601), runs scored (1,741) and walks (1,210). Rose is also #10 in batting average (.307), #4 in RBIs (1,036) and he’s 4th in triples (115) Reds’ history. Rose also managed the Reds for six years compiling a 412-373 (52.5%) record as he finished 2nd in the division 4 times. Although the gambling he did as a manager has kept him out of the Hall of Fame so far no one can doubt that he never fixed a game as a player as I have never seen anyone play as hard as Charlie Hustle.

23-year old lefty swinging 1B Yonder Alonso was the Reds’ #2 prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. But he’s not playing like it so far this year. Alonso has played in 52 games in AA+AAA-ball this year and he is 48 of 186 (.258 avg, .728 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 4 homers, 25 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Alonso is showing pretty good plate discipline this season as he has walked 25 times while only whiffing 28 times so that is a positive for him so far. Alonso is blocked by Joey Votto in the majors so if the Reds keep contending he could be prime trade bait.

The Reds have placed 35-year old righty reliever Mike Lincoln on the 15-day disabled list with a strained side. Lincoln has pitched in 19 games (0 starts) for the Reds this year and he is 1-0 with a 7.32 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. The Reds have recalled 25-year old righty reliever Logan Ondrusek to replace Lincoln in the pen. He was with the Reds earlier this season working in 9 games (0 starts) in which he was 0-0 with a 11.25 ERA and a 2.13 WHIP. The Reds hope Ondrusek will be better this time around.