Nothing to be afraid of as Reds get ready for the Giants

SAN FRANCISCO - Johnny Cueto was the first to come clean in a news conference Friday evening in San Francisco. He was asked about the Reds short stay in the 2010 playoffs when they were swept in the NLDS by the Philadelphia Phillies.

"I don't want to use this word, but it was kind of like, a scary situation," said the Reds' Game 1 starter.

That's how I've always felt about that short playoff run. Roy Halladay threw a near-perfect no-hitter against the Reds in the first game of the series in Philadelphia. Combine that with the raucous crowd, the big TV stage, and you have a team that had wobbly knees from round one.

The Reds knew their division title in 2010 was a surprise, probably a little ahead of the schedule most had anticipated. Some of the players were ill-equipped to handle the intensity of the postseason. As Cueto said through an interpreter on Friday, it was a "no-knowing situation" for the Reds.

Now they know a lot more. They learned how the title of 2010 didn't guarantee any success in 2011. And they didn't have any. They knew what changes needed to take place in terms of personnel and approach.

When spring training began, Dusty Baker confidently forecast that this would be a good year. "We're gonna have a lot of fun," he said. Joey Votto said, "the Brewers think they're the team to beat, the Cardinals [feel they] are the team to beat, but in the clubhouse, we feel we have the best team."

I think much of that confidence came from the tweaking of the roster during the off-season. Certainly the acquisitions of Mat Latos, Sean Marshall and Ryan Madson boosted the beliefs. The promise that Ryan Ludwick could return to form was also a plus. The new players filled some needed deficiencies.

But more than that, this team just got another year older and wiser. That's important in any line of work.

Votto talked about that maturity on the day the Reds clinched the division. Jay Bruce spoke about it in the locker room in St. Louis.

It became important because Madson, the presumed closer, never threw a pitch for the Reds. Nick Masset, a mainstay of the bullpen in 2011, couldn't help either. But the Reds had the depth, the maturity and the talent to adjust.

Johnny Cueto said Friday that he now sees a Reds team that "has more enthusiasm, and is better."

The scary situation no longer exists. We'll see if it leads to a longer stay in the playoffs.

Read why " Reds fans should be worried...at least a little bit. "