THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Went to Detroit for the weekend for my nephew's college graduation. That city is hurtin' in a large way. You can just about feel it as you walk around. So much uncertainty about job status, so much anxiety about the GM-Chrysler situation. We drove by the world headquarters for Chrysler. Not a whole lot of activity around the building. But you could almost feel the angst. I'm not trying to be melodramatic about the situation. It's real and people are hurting.

Johnny Cueto has it figured out. If you weren't convinced before Sunday's game against the Pirates you should be now. Cueto tossed eight innings of shut out ball. His pitch selection was smart and his pitch count was workable. Too many pitches to get out of too few inning are the two things that did him in last season. No stretch to think that Cueto could win at least 15 this season.

And did you notice that was the third time in the last four games that Reds pitching has shutout an opponent?

The topic of what to do with Homer Bailey came up last night on Sports Rock (incidentally, George Vogel and I did a two man show for the first time in the history of SR and I think it went pretty well). Bailey has now thrown back to back stellar ballgames. And with Micah Owings struggling as the fifth starter, the thought was bringing Bailey up and send Owings to the bullpen.

Bad idea.

For openers, every time Bailey has come up from AAA he's 'spit the bit'. Louisville may be 100 miles away from Cincinnati, geographically. But in reality, it's more like 1,000 miles away. Bailey, and others, have exceled at that level, and then failed to seize the moment when called up to the majors.

Secondly, Bailey is no fifth starter. And having him in Cincinnati, with as many as 10 days in between starts on some occasions, makes no sense. Bailey also has 'stuff' much better than a #5 guy in the rotation. Your fifth starter is usually a guy who tries to finesse his way through a batting order. Bailey has over powering (if often uncontrollable) stuff, more along the lines of a #1 or #2 starter.

My idea for Bailey is to continue to have him throw in AAA and only bring him to the Reds if there's a need, based on injury or horrific collapses by one of the pitchers in the Reds rotation.
Honestly, Bailey's best role may be as 'trade bait' for a potential big bat later in the season. If the Reds are in it by mid-July and a bat is the target, Bailey could be the 'bait'. Is there any other reason why he's still with this organization, other than the fact that he's 22 years old? If the economy hadn't tanked in the winter, it's likely Bailey would be with the White Sox right now and Jermaine Dye would be patroling the outfield at Great American Ball Park.

WLWT televised the Flying Pig Marathon Sunday. Though misty and cool, it was perfect running weather. The most impressive thing about the day, as far as I was concerned, was Boston Marathon race director, Dave Gillardy in attendance. He was shadowing Flying Pig race director, Iris Simpson, to offer feedback and to take notes for his own race. I interviewed Gillardy on Channel 5 and he told me he'd give the Pig a A+. Admitting that the Boston Marathon is a more serious marathon than the Pig (though the Pig is attracting more and more elite class runners), Gillary said it isn't fair to compare the two as 'apples to apples'. He praised the course design as highlighting the finer points of the city of Cincinnati, while keeping the disciplines of a traditional Marathon. High praise.

We'll have more video later today. But check out this womens softball game between West Carolina and Furman. The security camera caught the mother of the WCU third baseman wailing on some Furman players and Furman supporters. She appears to be someone you don't want to tangle with, even if she apparently did start this rumble.