Homer Bailey
Here is a plea to stay the course. I know he has an electric arm and that he is the best Reds pitching prospect, probably since Tom Browning. But he has exceeded expectations this year, he has thrown a lot of innings and will throw even more by the end of Chattanooga’s season, and does not need the added stress of either starting games in the middle of a pennant race or trying to pitch out of the bullpen when he has been starting all year. There may be some merit to calling him up just to hang around the clubhouse and get the feel for what it is like, but I think Jerry Narron will be too tempted to use him, and so I don’t even like that idea. I think we congratulate him on a great season, make sure that he is in Baseball America’s 2007 top ten prospects, and then start again in spring training. If the Reds miss the playoffs by one game, it might well be true that Bailey could have been the difference. But if Bailey tries to do too much and fails at a critical juncture, it would probably be a developmental setback at a time where he is probably not quite ready for prime time anyway.
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