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Jay Bruce is well aware of his 2014 performance

By Steve Engbloom

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Per his blog, Mark My Word, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon provides some insightful quotes from Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jay Bruce.

Not a single Reds fan, including myself, can begin to deny that Bruce is suffering a substantially subpar season. His struggles at the plate (.218/.294/.372 with 14 home runs and 55 RBI) are common fodder for those that have been less than enchanted with his season. And for me, it has been extremely painful to watch as he is my favorite Reds player.

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    • At one time, Bruce was on Twitter. He quickly discovered how cruel social media can be especially if you’re one that checks your mentions on a regular basis (are you listening A.J. Pierzynski?). He would ultimately delete it.

    Here are a few lines from Sheldon’s blog:

    "“I know it’s been miserable to watch for everybody. I understand it,” Bruce said. “It’s miserable for me to watch too. But I take a lot of pride in doing things the right way and never settling for whatever it is. Even when I had successful seasons, I felt like I was underachieving…”"

    "“…Fans want success right now and yesterday, the day before that and in April and May. I can’t blame them for that. That’s the whole point of the game, to be successful and win games..”"

    And Bruce on the knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus and the accelerated rehab…

    "“I think anyone who is familiar with the game of baseball and familiar with any type of surgery understands that there is period of time, ideally, where you have your surgery, you rest and you start rehabbing,” Bruce said. “There was no rest. I came back in two weeks, healthy enough to play. I’m a big believe that if you’re on the field, you’re expected to perform to a certain level. I haven’t been performing well. It’s led me to trying to do things with my swing, all kinds of stuff.”"

    Thursday evening, Bruce whiffed five times in five plate appearances, tying a club record. Her referred to that as “the most embarrassing moment I’ve ever had on the field”.

    I suggest reading Sheldon’s post. Sometimes we think these players have no worries. This tells otherwise.

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