John Fay

jfay@enquirer.com

PHOENIX – Bronson Arroyo was the most cerebral, the most honest and most accessible player I covered with the Reds.

He was always willing to talk about anything.

I asked Arroyo, now with the Arizona Diamondbacks, to give his take on the Reds the day after he lost to them 6-4. He needed a cortisone shot in his elbow afterward, but he still called it the "most enjoyable loss of his career."

Arroyo, of course, spent eight years with the Reds and won 105 games. He helped turn around the pitching staff.

Here's what he had to say about the state of the club, Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto's amazing start to the season:

"Given the way that team has been built, the same problem has persisted for the last five years. And that problem is always going to be: Can you beat the Grade A pitchers in the game? Can you consistently beat the Grade A pitchers of the game? Can you beat the (Adam) Wainwrights?

"They can do it in streaks and at times. But can they do it consistently enough? When you map it onto that division – where the Cardinals have become a perennial team year after year after year – if you get off to a bad start and a team like Milwaukee gets off to a good start, you never know what could happen.

"It's a really solid ball club. It's always been a solid ball club. Everybody that plays them, I'm sure feels like, 'What a good lineup, what great pitching, what a great bullpen.'

"Pitching has gotten them to the promised land time and time again. But when you get to the playoffs, everybody's got good pitching. What you need to win a playoff series is the ability to hit that Grade A pitching.

"So you can't win 2-1 every night. You've got to put up a 4, 5 spot.

"Where they are now is a little slower than I thought they'd start out. But it's a long season. They'll probably bring it back and have a good season. But they're in the same boat we are here, man. When you're in a division that's really good, it's going to be hard to make the playoffs. That's just the way it is.

"I think it makes a huge difference taking Votto out of the lineup. Joey obviously isn't putting up the power numbers they want him to. His average is down. But his on-base percentage is good.

"They moved him to the 2 hole. He's been more productive there. He changes the dynamic of the lineup. There are guys in this game that have a reputation that kind of change the way the lineup gets pitched to and the way he gets pitched to.

"Joey is one of those guys, even if he's not hitting the ball out of the ballpark. He's somebody people highlight and take notice of.

"Johnny Cueto is not a surprise at all. I think over the last three years in the time he's been healthy – you take out his DL time – he's probably top five in the league in ERA. Johnny's always had lights-out stuff. He's gotten better and better over the years.

"The problem with him is: Can you stay healthy? Can you do it for 162? Can you pitch 200 innings? Can you do it three years in a row? Do you show people you have the desire to do that?

"That's only thing that's a question mark with Johnny. He's got lights-out stuff. You hope that he can continue doing it out of the mere fact of the contract Homer Bailey got. That means Johnny Cueto's going to make a lot of money in this game. I'm happy for him.

"He's had his ups and downs.

"You look at guys who come from a country like he did who couldn't buy a shirt when he was a kid to get a $150 million contract is nothing but gold." ■