The Wild, The Innocent, The Big Red Shuffle

Yes, I did that title on purpose

In 2010, the Reds had one of the strongest lineups in baseball. Aside from Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips, 3 guys they still have now, they had people like Scott Rolen, Drew Stubbs and Jonny Gomes, as well as a full-fledged pitching staff featuring Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto and a very young Travis Wood. Heck, they were even trying to farm a young Aroldis Chapman as a starter.

However, the 2010 playoffs were not kind to the Reds, thanks mainly in part to Roy Halladay and the first postseason no-hitter in over 50 years. The Reds squandered their great season, and never made it back to the playoffs.

Now, Votto, Bruce and Phillips are some of the few survivors of that postseason run. New people like Billy Hamilton and Zack Cozart have appeared, but the team was in last, and trouble's a-brewing.

So far, however, the Reds have won five and lost two. Something has definitely happened. One of those somethings is Jay Bruce. He's healthy, he's happy, and HE'S HITTING.

The dude's had a nice amount of homers in the last week, and he's fueling the renaissance project in Cincinnati. I don't know how it's happening, but it's happening, and it's sparking serious discussion. Is this gonna go on for more than a few weeks? Are people like Raisel Iglesias and Brandon Finnegan more than just 'ha ha, the Reds don't have much pitching' examples, and more like serious pitching threats in the NL Central?

It's honestly too soon to say. However, I am hoping that Jay Bruce stays healthy all season, because so far he's on pace for a pretty cool season, one the fans have been asking for for a while.

Coming Sometime Today: Already a Hall of Famer. Already a 500 Club member. But people have written him off. Does he still have some Grade-A material left in him?