FanHouse MattBelisle

The speculation over the weekend was that the Reds would be calling Homer Bailey up to start against the Indians on Saturday. The speculation was wrong. The official word came down from the front office today; Bailey will be making his start on Friday against the Indians. The Reds are pushing Matt Belisle back so that Bailey can start Saturday and that's probably the way that it should be.

The Reds aren't the only ones that can't wait for Bailey. Their fans are excited, too (and they should be). Red Reporter has this to say about Bailey:

But I will say that Homer Bailey coming up is pretty damn exciting. There literally hasn't been a Reds starting pitching prospect in my lifetime that I've been this hyped up about, and even though I am pretty sure he'll struggle for his first season I still can't wait to see him in Cincinnati.

It's tough to find bright spots this year, but Bailey's debut should be one.

Cincinnati.com is running a poll asking Reds' fans how many games they think Bailey will win. Right now, 31% say "more than 8." Given Bailey's youth, the Reds general propensity for losing games this year, and the amount of games left in the season, that's a bit optimistic. Then again, if he can settle in this year, the rotation of Arroyo, Harang, and Bailey will be a scary one in the coming years.

How bad have things been for the Reds lately? So bad that after two straight wins, the Reds page at Cincinnati.com is covered with the word "streak." Two wins in a row. Over the Pirates and Astros. The Astros had lost eight straight before last night. This is no major accomplishment. Still, both major Cincy papers printed articles today with the magic word in the title. The Cincy Enquirer ran with "Winning Effort Results in Streak" while the Cincy Post went with "Winning Streak Anyone?"

I'll be honest. I'm a little more partial to the Post article because it ran with the quote that both of those headlines immediately put into my head.

As Reds starter Matt Belisle was stretching in the training room before Tuesday's game with the Astros, he heard a teammate yelling out a quote from the classic baseball movie, "Major League."

"We won yesterday. If we win today, that's two in a row," manager Lou Brown says in the movie. "If we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak; it has happened before."

To be perfectly fair, the Reds hadn't won two in a row since April. That's right, they went almost all of the month of May without winning two games in a row. That is a bad month. Luckily for them, the rest of the division also took the month off and the Reds are only two games away from pulling themselves out of last place.

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