Reds To Face Brewers In Goodyear

The Reds will face the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cincinnati lineup that will battle the Brewers' pitcher Tyler Thornburg is:

Shin-Soo Choo CF
Emmanuel Burris 2B
Joey Votto 1B
Chris Heisey LF
Jay Bruce RF
Jack Hannahan 3B
Zack Cozart SS
Miguel Olivo C
Derrick Robinson DH
Armando Galarraga P

Galarraga is expected to add pitching depth at Louisville for the Reds.  He pitched a near perfect game against the Cleveland Indians but a blown call at firstbase by umpire Jim Joyce allowed current teammate Jason Donald to reach base on an infield single.

Galarraga is 31 years old and struggled through two seasons at Arizona and Houston, making just 13 starts and posting a 3-8 record.

Thornburg was the Brewers' third pick in the 2010 draft.  He made three starts and had eight appearances last season with no record and a 4.50 ERA.  The righthander out of Sandy Springs, Georgia is 24 years old.

Cozart was placed in spots in the batting order for which he was not suited for last season.  He started out in the second spot but placed in the leadoff spot when Drew Stubbs was injured.

"He did a great job," Dusty Baker said.  "I'd prefer a set batting order but things happened and we had to mix and match.  There's no place to start in the big leagues than batting in front of Joey Votto.  I hope he's ready for the adjustment of batting down in the order."

Baker thinks that Cozart will have a chance to drive in more runs and use his speed more.

"Batting seventh is a spot for driving in runs and batting leadoff at the same time," Baker said.  "The seventh hitter bats a lot with runners on base, especially if your sixth hitter isn't picking up runs, or gets a lot of walks, or hits for a high batting average. I feel like I could possibly utilize his speed a little more.  Even though they are going to walk the eighth hitter but I get the pitcher to come to bat that inning.  I couldn't hardly let him run batting in front of Joey because all they are going to do is walk Joey."

Former Reds' thirdbaseman, Scott Rolen, who knows about defense, remarked that Cozart played a Gold Glove shortstop last season.  Baker agrees.

"He's as steady as they come on defense," Baker said.  "He didn't throw the ball away.  Young players have as many throwing errors as they do fielding errors."

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