Okay, the Reds played their final spring game against their minor league All Stars and they came out with a 9-6 win over the Reds Futures.  Johnny Cueto shut down the kids over four frames and that’s all I was really worried about.  A strong Cueto puts the Reds with a decent five deep rotation (if you believe in Micah Owings) and this may be the best starting five we’ve had in a long, long time (think Lou Piniella).  The Bronson Arroyo carpel tunnel thing could mean Homer Bailey starts the season in the rotation but still, that’s a quality starting five and maybe Bailey will finally find his groove.

As far as predictions, this may be the toughest team to do that with since I’ve started writing.  Let’s just say, there’s a wide range because things could go really right (Cueto and Volquez contend for a Cy Young and everyone else does their job) to really wrong (pitching goes to pieces).  I’m cautiously optimistic and I think the Reds win 85 games this year and they’re playing semi-meaningful games into September.

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