I will now post the exact same piece for the third time in two weeks

Dude.

We have so had this conversation before. A couple times, actually.

I mean, what are we gonna do?

3-7 in the last 10. An uncharacteristically poor start from Johnny Cueto after he was spotted a five-run lead in the first non-Opening Day sellout in, probably, five years. A few chinks in the armor of a previously unchinkable bullpen.

Has it finally happened? Has the other shoe finally dropped?

I don't think so. We're still in it. There's still a ton of time. Votto and Eddie will be back soon.

I repeat that to myself three times in the bathroom mirror every night before I go to bed.

It seems like every series in the last six weeks has been a "big series." Every Tuesday and Friday (or Monday and Thursday depending on how the schedule falls that week) I sit here and clamor on about the importance of the impending three or four-game series with Team X.

I drivel on and on and on and fucking on about the pitching match-ups and standings implications and finally conclude that we will learn something about this team as a result of the series.

And each series I've been totally wrong.

Reds fans have not learned anything new about this team in the last six weeks. We continue to flounder around .500, stay in the middle of the pack in the playoff hunt, and generally tread water.

Everyone else is doing the exact same thing.

Despite the fact that yesterday's game was a complete microcosm of our season thus far and Saturday night's loss was probably the worst of the year we still went 3-3 on the homestand and remain exactly .500 through 68 games.

What's more is that we'll have an opportunity to make up some ground in the coming weeks.

Beginning tomorrow the team begins a six-game trip starting in Toronto and ending in Cleveland before coming home for nine including three a piece with St. Louis and Milwaukee.

Speaking of Cleveland...

That's one fan base I would absolutely not want to trade places with. Ever. As if the debacle with Orlando wasn't bad enough the Indians are grossly underachieving for the second consecutive season.

And the tribe doesn't just lose. They invent new methods of torture.

To be perfectly honest, I've seen snuff films more watchable than the Indians bullpen.

I'm not just picking on the Tribe here, either. I woke up this morning and my buddy Alan had left the following message on my Facebook Wall:

I'll trade you teams straight up. I'll even throw in the Lake Erie Monsters to sweeten the deal.

Anyway, after the six-game swing through the American League the team comes home to face the lowly Diamondbacks for three followed by the Cardinals and Brewers. Realistically, the team can go 8-7 or 9-6, but if they can get Joey Votto and Edwin Encarnacion back in the middle of this span and reel off 10 or 11 of 15 we can make a run into first.

My point is that we continue to hold on by a thread and remain barely relevant in the playoff chase, but if we can get all of our guys healthy, I really believe we're primed to make a run at this thing.

I'm keenly aware I've written/said the proceeding statement approximately 14 million times in the last week. In fact, Kate found the other day "but if we can get all of our guys healthy, I really believe we're primed to make a run at this thing." written continuously on a single Word Document much like Jack Nicholson in the The Shining

The difference between saying it now and saying it last week is that now it does appear as if we're finally getting healthy. Votto is due back no later than the end of the month and Eddie will begin a rehab assignment in Louisville this week.

Last week, on the other hand, was spent sizing Joey Votto for a straight jacket.

I was talking with Zach last night about the importance of patience. The conversation was general in nature and not at all directly related to baseball. However, I do find the lesson applicable when approaching the 2009 Cincinnati Reds.

We still have more than 90 games to go and we're only four games out. And we're finally showing signs of getting our entire roster healthy.

In short, there's finally some light at the end of the tunnel.