Chris Sabo's Goggles

So, that whole “let’s come back from the road trip in first place” thing isn’t exactly going as planned.  We still have the St. Louis series to, uh… look forward to, but does anyone else get the feeling that the wheels have finally fallen off?

Whether it’s Joey Votto’s issues — which are starting to sound like they might have serious long-term implications for Votto and the Cincinnati Reds — or the pitching staff (inevitably) coming back down to earth (Micah Owings, your pitching leaves much to be desired), I can’t help but wonder if the best days for this 2009 ball club are behind us.

Don’t worry, though, because I’m not prepared to give up just yet. With no more Battlestar Galactica to watch I have nothing else to do this summer but cheer on my favorite baseball team.  However, I must admit that my level of enthusiasm has dipped dramatically in the last week.  Losing Votto has a lot to do with that.

Jay Bruce’s maddening inconsistency doesn’t help, either.

It’s good to be optimistic these days, but it’s time to come to grips with the fact that Votto’s situation has become serious enough that you have to start thinking about Plan B.  And that is hardest thing I’ve had to write in the venerable 15-month history of Chris Sabo’s Goggles.

Anyone who has a bad thing to say about Joey Votto is an idiot.  I hate to talk about the guy like he’s gone already, but it really does feel like we’ve lost him.  Guys like Votto don’t come along every day (or every decade), so when you have someone like him, you embrace him.

It hurts to see him go through whatever he’s going through.  Even if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was going through a similar predicament, I’d feel bad for the guy.

Just not as much as I do about Votto.

While it’s too late in the season to say “it’s still early,” it’s also too late in the season to say “there’s plenty of time.”  I think we’ve seen what we’re going to see out of this team.  For better or worse.

The NL Central is hardly proving to be a power-house division, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Reds are still a few pieces away from being a perennial contender.  We knew that going into the season, but if one of those missing pieces ends up being a permanent replacement for Joey Votto, then you can go ahead and add a couple of years to that old five-year-plan.

In hindsight, I don’t regret not driving up to Milwaukee this weekend to catch a game.