Young Reds Play the Weighting Game

Jay Bruce isn't getting any younger at 25 or thinner.  Homer Bailey at 25 was still a 207 pound bean pole.

The young stars poised to reach their prime, wanted to accelerate their improvement.

For Bruce it was dropping pounds for Bailey it was gaining pounds.

Surprisingly, Bruce's goal was easier to reach.  Us mortals can close our mouths now.

"I added a little more running but just changed my diet a little," said Bruce who dropped 16 pounds since the beginning of the year. "I cut down on grains and the obvious stuff, no fried foods, no cokes."

Bailey consulted a nutritionist from Newport, KY, Brian Wieferins.

The expert prescribed seven hearty meals per day, six eggs for breakfast.

"That was easy," said Bailey.  "I'd just go out and collect six."  His family raises chickens in LaGrange, Texas.

"I would just eat, eat eat.  I ate a lot of fruit, get the biggest steak I could find and a lot of vegetables. Three sandwiches for lunch It wasn't like going to Macdonalds, but it was a lot of fun," Bailey said.

Bailey went from 207 to 227 in four weeks but it wasn't all that much fun in the beginning.

"Brian told me to eat until I couldn't eat anymore but not to make myself sick.  It was hard the first week, but I got used to it."

Both players are hoping changing their bodies will prevent injuries.

"I thought that taking 15 or 16 pounds off my joints would help me through the long season and to be a little quicker," Bruce said.

"I don't feel heavy," Bailey said.  "It's kind of a theory that this might help me stay away from injuries.  I don't feel it will hurt anything, how's that?"

The young righthander has had minor shoulder problems that have cost him starts the last two years.

Baker is only concerned with how the two budding stars perform.

Since Baker was a hitter in his playing days he had more commentary on Bruce's body change than Bailey's.

"Jay's swing will be quicker with less trunk to rotate," Baker said.  "He will be able to wait longer on pitches."

That would allow Bruce to cut down on strikeouts.  "Our bodies change as we get older. We have to adjust.  I've seen it work both ways.  Some players play better with a little extra weight.  When Fernando Valenzuela came up he started to lose his baby fat and his performance went down.  He had to put weight back on.  In most cases it's better to lose weight.  Less weight on you knees, saves injury and their is less chance of pulling an oblique.  Jay was never fat he just wasn't suave and cut."

Bruce hasn't noticed any difference in his swing with the slimmer frame while hitting in the batting cage in Beaumont, Texas.

"I haven't felt any difference.  I am as strong as I was.  Dusty has been around a long time.  We'll see what happens when I face live pitching," Bruce said.