Cin City: Reds look forward to much needed All Star break

A week away from one of the greatest exhibitions in sports, and the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings. The mid-season break, in all honesty, couldn’t come soon enough.

The 2013 MLB All-Star game kicks off on July 16th in New York’s Citi Field, as both the National and American Leagues send out the finest talents each have to offer, to battle it out for World Series home-field advantage. The Cincinnati Reds, however, have a lot to talk about during the rest period if they are to start making some serious ground in the division.

Currently sat in third, the Reds haven’t managed to get firing on all cylinders lately, most notably with the offence going through a spell of cold patches. The pitching numbers are still right up there with some of the league’s best, and lest we forget, Homer Bailey pitched his second no-hitter of his career this past week against San Francisco at home in Great American Ballpark. Considering the fact that Bailey said himself that he would never manage to throw another no-hitter in his career again, this would go down in Reds’ history amongst some of the organisation’s biggest achievements. The incredible feat earned him NL player of the week this week and will no doubt help energise a ball club that’s managed to find a way to make even the best hitters look average at best over the past few weeks.

A bit of good news for the Reds comes in the form of three selected All-Stars this season. Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Aroldis Chapman will all make the trip to the East coast representing the Reds amongst some of the biggest names in the game. Unfortunately for some, there weren’t enough spots on the roster to accommodate another one or two Reds faces. Jay Bruce was left out of the roster for the first time in the past three years, and although he was upset about the decision, he commented this week saying that he understood the decision and why it had to be made. Stellar season thus far from the likes of Choo, Latos and Leake could also have put them in with a chance of making the selection, but the rest of the Cincinnati squad will look to take this time off, regroup and figure out a way to play a more consistent brand of baseball that is imperative if they are going to make a serious chase for the pennant this season.

The Pirates are still rolling, the Cardinals never let up and the Reds’ chances of making the playoffs are getting slimmer as the days and weeks go by. The return of Chris Heisey to the line-up gave the Reds a boost this month but it will take more than one or two players to waken the Reds bats from their apparent slumber. Nobody doubts that it can be done, but with the Reds losing ‘easy’ games as it were, no disrespect to the Miami Marlins, as well as losing the close games to division rivals (Brewers we’re looking at you now), the Reds might do well to look back at the past two seasons and try to recapture the winning form them took them to back to back playoff appearances.

Highlight reel: As much as I hate to admit it, Carlos Gomez made one of the plays of the year last night with an astonishing catch to rob Votto of a go-ahead two run home-run in the 9th inning of the opening game against the Brewers. Some things the Reds can do to alleviate their current struggles. Others, like this, you just have to stand up and applaud.