24-year old lefty swinging 3B/OF Juan Francisco is finally starting to get some P.T. and he’s taking advantage of it. Francisco has played in 29 games for the Reds so far this year and he is 22 for 86 (.256 avg, .719 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers, 14 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 79 games in his first three years with the Reds and he is 46 for 162 (.284 avg, .772 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 5 homers, 28 RBIs and 1 stolen base. I think the Reds are actually showcasing Francisco for a deal for some starting pitcher over the winter.

34-year old righty starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo has had a rough time in 2011 for the Reds. He has started 31 games for the Reds so far this year and he is 9-12 with a 5.09 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Arroyo has given up 218 hits this year, of which a major league leading 44 of them have been homers in only 191 innings! That is awful. He has limited the damage by only walking 44 batters and whiffing 102 of them, but he still has been pretty awful this year. Arroyo has now pitched in 200 games (all starts) in his first six years with the Reds and he is 79-72 with a 4.14 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The Reds hope that Arroyo bounces back in 2012.

The Reds have shut down 25-year old righty starting pitcher Johnny Cueto for the rest of the year due to a strained lat muscle. Cueto was awesome this year for the Reds! He pitched in 24 games (all starts) for the Reds this year and he was 9-5 with a 2.31 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Cueto only gave up 123 hits in 156 innings this year as he was downright nasty. Cueto has now pitched in 116 games (all starts) for the Reds in his first four years with the team and he is 41-37 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. It looks like the best is yet to come from Cueto for the Reds.

23-year old lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman has been so-so for the Reds so far this year. He has pitched in 49 games (0 starts) for the Reds so far this year and he is 4-1 with 1 save, a 4.09 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Chapman has only given up 22 hits while whiffing 65 batters in his first 44 innings in 2011, and that is impressive. But, Chapman has also walked 37 batters in 2011 and that is way too many. Chapman has now pitched in 64 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Reds and he is 6-3 with 1 save, a 3.61 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. If Chapman has harness his control, he will be a truly dominating pitcher as either a starter or reliever for the Reds in the near future.

The Reds have lost 26-year old righty swinging infielder Chris Valaika for the rest of the season due to a torn right ACL. Valaika played in 14 games for the Reds this year and he was 7 for 25 (.280 avg, .733 OPS) with 3 runs scored. He has now played in 33 games in his first two years with the Reds and he is 17 for 63 (.270 avg, .684 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. This is a bad break for Valaika as he was in line to play a lot the last couple weeks of the season for the Reds.