Larkin couldn't point to one thing that changed all that. The seeds of the recent run, Larkin said, were planted early in spring training. The results just came on a delayed basis. Everyone was showing up early and doing their work. As the young players had success, confidence grew.
Guys have confidence in their teammates.
They've bought in to it. Guys want to make contributions, big and small. Larkin doesn't think the Reds' push to first place in the NL Central is any fluke. Casey is the only one that's having a superhuman year. Pokey's going to hit between .270 and .300.