One good season is all it takes for some contending team to gobble you up like smarties.
Alfredo Simon was pitching beautifully for the not-in-contention Reds last year, in a season where him, Leake, Latos and Cueto were all, in various heats, playing well. But he needed to be somewhere away from the shadow of somebody big like Johnny Cueto. So this season, ended up in Detroit...in the shadow of Justin Verlander and David Price. That didn't work out too well, did it Alfie?
Good news is Simon is pitching alright so far. Like, his ERA is good enough, and he's had enough good starts to still be taken seriously. Only thing is he's been getting chewed up by big-time batters a lot more often than last season, which isn't great. I think he's been deferring to David Price as the main starter a lot, and Price is doing a lot better so far.
And now Verlander's on his way back, and once he gets there Simon will be the third starter, and things might not get much better. I'm kind of hoping he at least has a nice finish.
Coming Tonight: The Braves are underwhelming, but their perennial leader is still hitting really well.
