News: MLB.com reports that Reds SP Aaron Harang was sent back to Cincinnati on Wednesday to undergo an MRI on his sore right forearm. Harang struggled on the mound during a 7-3 loss to the Cubs on Tuesday after that start was pushed back three days because of tightness in the forearm.

Probably lead to a stint of the Disgraceful List.

Was that an episode of Seinfeld where George misunderstands the test results? He thinks a "negative" result is bad?

For the Reds, a negative MRI might be bad; then there's no clear reason for his performance. Probably unlikely, though. Modern MRI's are really good at finding excuses.

Well, as a Reds fan I'm pleased that maybe there is an excuse to his poor pitching. I have been a Harang homer for a couple of years. The guys at Greener on the Other Side (now fantasy phenoms) totally called this one to start the season, as Harang was a member of the 3500+ (pitch count) club:

"Dan Haren, Aaron Harang, and Carlos Zambrano. I admit right now that of the 25 players not to target, Haren, Lackey and Harang were my three ballsiest picks and regardless of how they do from here on in, I will stand by that statement. They were all #1 SP studs last year.

Harang could strikeout 200+ again and Haren could have an ERA around 3.50. However, their wear and tear as per the 3500 Club still make me weary. I also realize that they could hit the wall in 2009 as well. So, don't be surprised if these two have solid years as it was quite risky for me to go against their success. If they do go down you can thank me like you did for John Lackey, who was equally as risky a call to go against in March."

I traded Harang early in the season in deal that netted me Berkman, whew!

That, Hank is why I am leary to let him go just yet.

Yeah, I read that when it was posted. He says Harang, Lackey, Zambrano and Haren. -- This makes sense? This is the clear cut reason?

Lackey, Z, and Harang (likely) have all hit the DL. I think their main concern was with the pitch counts, and while Lackey and Z have been pretty effective when healthy, healthy being the keyword. I think the worries with the three pitchers other than Haren were the pitch counts, each were part of the 3500 club and each hit the DL at some point, the problem with Haren is the same as mentioned on this site, he is a notorious first half pitcher moving to a hitters park. Maybe the analysis wasn't spot on, but I tend to think they weren't too far off. Though their favorite pitcher running away was Chris R Young, and he hit the DL too! So maybe who the fuck knows!

Hey Hank, What's news out of Cincy about Bruce? Grumblings, adjusting playing time, standing pat?

BSA, Well Cincy and most Reds fans seem to be holding pat to idea that there will be an adjustment period for Bruce. I think for the most part as fans we are content to let our talent develop at the big league level, now if only Dusty wasn't asking our sluggers to bunt!

From a fantasy perspective I think patience is considerably less with a talent like Bruce, I believe they expected the next Ryan Braun out of him. I would contend that what Braun did was monumental and will likely not be repeated too often from other rookies. So expecting Braun type numbers out of Baseball America's top prospects each year is going to cause a lot of pain for fantasy owners. The laundry list of rookies who didn't have the impact Braun did is very long, Gordon, Kershaw, Scherzer, Bailey, Bucholz, Clement, Balentien, A. Jones, Delmon, ad infinitum.

But back to Bruce, I snagged this from a forum:
To all those dismissing Jay Bruce already, you might want to keep tabs on him. He appears to be cutting down on his K's a bit and putting the ball in play (5 K's in his last 24 AB's... not great... but an improvement). Also take a peak at his splits, he has raked against righties (.302/.352/.542 17 runs, 6 HR, 15 RBI's and a respectable 8:22 BB:K ratio), and struggled big time against lefties (.213/.321/.255 5 runs, 0 HR, 4 RBI and 7:16 BB:K in 47 AB's). He also is a better then .300 hitter at home. Just signs he might be able to put it together.

This was however written previous to his Golden Sombrero on Tuesday!

Bottom line is, I think you can expect somewhere in the .265 - .275 range in BA with 20-25 HR, 80+ RBI, 90-100 R and 150 Ks, all together not too bad for a rookie.

Great answer thanks!

Now back to Harang, let him sit on the waiver wire or pick him up. Someone just rode him for two weeks and dropped him along with Bengie Molina.