I am a freelance writer. I've covered the Cincinnati Reds, Bengals and others since 1992.
I have a background in sales as well. I've sold consumer electronics, advertising and consumer package goods for companies ranging from the now defunct Circuit City to Procter&Gamble.
I have worked as a stats operator for Xavier University, the University of Cincinnati, the College of Mount St. Joe and Colerain High School.
Heisey, smiling, stood by his locker and discussed his lot in the major leagues on Wednesday afternoon.
"I you would have told me when I was a freshman at Messiah College, that I would have four years in the major leagues, I wouldn't have believed you," said the 29-year old outfielder. "Everybody wants to be the guy. Every bench player in the league wants to play every day. I just have to keep playing and get my chance."
The Reds' manager Bryan Price realizes that Heisey has 'every day' ability.
"I believe that Chris can be an every day player," Price said in spring training. "He just needs to show it when he has that chance."
Heisey had a big opportunity last season when Ryan Ludwick dislocated his shoulder on opening day. Unfortunately, Heisey strained his right hamstring and missed two months, in part because he tried to comeback too soon.
"I've never made the club out of camp, where they've told me that even if you hit .200 a couple months, it is your job, but I don't view myself as an underdog" Heisey said.
Heisey has made himself so valuable off the bench that it may work against him. He is hitting .400 as a pinch hitter this season with a home run and six RBI. He is aggressive in those situations.
"I don't want to take three pitches," Heisey said. "There are times when you are starting that you want to see some pitches and it is held against you if you only see three pitches in a game and don't have a hit."
Heisey can also play all three outfield positions and takes pride in his ability to cover the outfield. Sean Marohn, the Reds' new strength coach considers Heisey the strongest player on the team.
"I've always considered myself an pretty good defender," Heisey said. "I've had pitchers tell me that they like having me out there when they're on the mound."
In contrast to Phoenix Arizona which has had one day of rain in the last 122 days, a day without rain in Cincinnati would be considered a drought.
The Reds have waded through 10 hours and 42 minutes of rain in its 11 dates so far this season, which includes the eighth postponement in Great American Ball Park history on Monday night. The Reds tread enough water to win a 3-2 decision over the sinking Chicago Cubs.
Billy Hamilton, who weighs 160 soaking wet, was not slowed by rain. Hamilton walked in the first and stole his 10th base of the season. He continued to third on a wild pitch, with an idea of trying to score. Brandon Phillips delivered Hamilton with a long fly to right off Jeff Samardzija, the Cubs starter.
Alfredo Simon is 4-1 and started the game with a 1.30 ERA, fourth in the National League. He is at 1.60 post game and has been a pleasant but not totally unexpected surprise for the Reds' subbing in for the injured Mat Latos.
"I wouldn't have put it past Freddie, (Simon)," Price said. "The surprise is that he has been a shut down competitor. He's had to battle and fought his way through this game. That shows his development."
The Cubs bunched three ground singles to score two runs in the third and take a temporary 2-1 lead with Starling Castro knocking in a pair with a single up the middle.
Hamilton beat out a ground ball to Castro at short but was gunned down by Wellington Castillo, the fifth time he's been thrown out.
Vowing it wouldn't happen again, Hamilton belted his first career home run off Samardzija to tie the game in the fifth. The last time he went deep was the day that Chapman took the line drive to the head. He led off the game with Kansas City that night with a blast.
"I'd rather have two infield hits any day than hit a home run, but its a good thing it happened," Hamilton said. "It was a big run in a close game. It wasn't a fence scrapper either. Billy Hatcher told me his first one landed between the first row of fans and the fence. Mine went a little farther."
Bryan Price will take runs any way he get get them after the Atlanta series in which the Reds scored just one run over the last 18 innings.
"It's nice to know the power is there but it can be disruptive sometime," Price said. "We just want Billy to get on base and disrupt things that way."
The Reds mounted the winning rally when struggling Zack Cozart tripled with two outs in the sixth. Chris Heisey pinch hit for Simon and singled in the winning run just before rain delayed the game for over an hour.
"It made sense to try to get that run in," Price said. "Simon certainly didn't pitch his way out of the game. He could have gone another inning or two. With the rain coming we wanted to get that run home and it worked out."
Heisey has been a reliable pinch hitter since he's been with the team.
"I'm always ready," Heisey said. "I haven't had a lot of opportunities lately but I stay ready."
The Reds bullpen, Logan Ondrusek, Sam LeCure and Jonathan Broxton kept the Cubs at bay over the final three innings. Broxton, as a proxy for Aroldis Chapman earned his fifth save in as many chances.
"It wasn't ideal conditions," Heisey said. "You want to either play the game or go home. It wasn't as bad for me because I didn't start but for the other guys. They had to get loose, then sit and get loose again. That takes a toll over a 162 game season."
Skip Schumaker is on a rehab assignment in Louisville which started on Monday night. He dislocated his shoulder diving for a ball on March 22 in Goodyear.
Schumaker hit a pair of doubles in a 3-for-4 night.
On Tuesday, Schumaker struck out and was thrown out of the game for arguing a call at secondbase.
“Schumaker swung the bat well," Bryan Price said. He feels good. The issue right now is there’s a lot of bad weather in his neck of the woods and a day off tomorrow. So we’re trying to find alternatives to make sure he stays active over the next 48 to 72 hours.
Schumaker was signed a two-year contract with the Reds on November 26 to provide bench strength. He is expected to backup Brandon Phillips at secondbase and play the outfield. He was in leftfield the day he was hurt.
Schumaker hit .441 in 14 games this spring with one home run and seven RBI. He also hit three doubles.
His 25-pitch live batting practice session on Tuesday, set the stage for a rehab assignment in Dayton on Thursday.
“It went very good,” Chapman said, with trainer Tomas Vera translating. “All my pitches were the way I wanted.”
“I feel normal,” he said. “I feel the way I was before I got hit with the ball.”
Manager Bryan Price thinks Chapman needs only a few games in the minors to get ready for his return. Chapman suggested four or five would be sufficient.
Chapman threw the equivalent of one inning to Reds hitters, working more on his change-up and slider.
“I know I have the fastball,” he said. “I’m feeling I have the fastball. I’m working with the breaking pitches.”
Outfielder Roger Bernadina saw a couple of fastballs at the outset from Chapman and couldn’t connect.
“I didn’t see the first two,” Bernadina said.
The win gives Miley a career 574-445 record with the franchise, tying former Reds' coach Marc Bombard (574-502) as the manager with the most wins in Scranton Wilkes-Barre history.
Miley is in the International League Hall of Fame. He won the Manager of the Year award in 2007 and 2012. His teams have won the league's Governors Cup in 2001 with the Louisville Bats in the Reds' organization and in 2008 at Scranton.
Earlier than expected, Aroldis Chapman threw live batting practice in Pittsburgh this afternoon.
This is the last step before taking the mound as an active member of the Reds' bullpen.
The Reds used a screen to protect Chapman, who was hit above the right eye by a batted ball hit by Kansas City's Salvador Perez in a March 19 Cactus League game. Chapman was expected to miss up to eight weeks.
Johnny Cueto got the support that he was looking for last October as he pitched the Reds to a 4-0 complete game win.
Cueto struck out a career-high 12 while crafting his third complete-game shutout and seventh career complete game.
Cueto and Francisco Liriano, who are amigos from the Dominican, hooked up for a rematch of the Wild Card game between the Reds and Pirates on October 1.
The Pirates won 6-2 as Liriano pitched seven innings, allowing one run. Cueto, who had just returned from an injury that plagued him all season, lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned).
Billy Hamilton walked and stole second on a pitch that was in the dirt and bounced away from catcher Tony Sanchez. Hamilton raced to third but the ball went into the Pirates dugout. Hamilton was required to go back to second. He didn't stay long. As Joey Votto was being walked, Liriano threw the first of two wild pitches. The second during Brandon Phillips at bat allowed the Reds to score the lone run of the game through six innings.
The Pirates got nothing off Cueto.
It was Cueto's game no matter what.
"He was going to go out there either way, whether we added on runs or not," Price said. "Welcome back Johnny Cueto."
"I felt really strong and confident," Cueto said through interpreter Tomas Vera. "I believe that Brian know us because he was our pitching coach. He trusts us."
Tony Sanchez reached on an infield hit in the third after six straight batters were retired. Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out in the fourth. Jordy Mercer reached on an infield hit after initially being ruled out by firstbase umpire Gerry Davis. Phillips fielded a ball in the hole between him and Votto. Votto had to rush to get back to first and missed it, replay cameras revealed.
Cueto, who started the game with an 0-2 record in spite of a 2.14 ERA, finally got the elusive run support. He had to jump start the rally himself. His teammates scored a total of four runs in his three starts. Cueto singled one out into the seventh. Hamilton forced him at second with a slow roller to short. Votto unloaded his fourth home run of the season to give Cueto the luxury of a three-run lead.
Cueto's single ended a bit of personal frustration. He was called out when he made contact with the ball in fair territory outside the batter's box in the second inning. He was called out trying to sacrifice Zack Cozart to secondbase. This time he stayed in the box and interfered with Sanchez's effort to field the bunt.
The Reds added a fourth run on Brayan Pena's double that scored Chris Heisey, who was 1-for-3, was hit by a pitch, had a stolen base and a run scored.
It was the Reds' first series win of the year.
Cueto and Liriano have been friends since both came to the major leagues. They come from different towns in the Dominican. Liriano is from Santo Domingo. Cueto is from San Pedro.
"When he got to the Pirates we started to be more friends," Cueto said.
Johnny Cueto got the support that he was looking for last October as he pitched the Reds to a 4-0 complete game win.
Cueto struck out a career-high 12 while crafting his third complete-game shutout and seventh career complete game.
Cueto and Francisco Liriano, who are amigos from the Dominican, hooked up for a rematch of the Wild Card game between the Reds and Pirates on October 1.
The Pirates won 6-2 as Liriano pitched seven innings, allowing one run. Cueto, who had just returned from an injury that plagued him all season, lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned).
Billy Hamilton walked and stole second on a pitch that was in the dirt and bounced away from catcher Tony Sanchez. Hamilton raced to third but the ball went into the Pirates dugout. Hamilton was required to go back to second. He didn't stay long. As Joey Votto was being walked, Liriano threw the first of two wild pitches. The second during Brandon Phillips at bat allowed the Reds to score the lone run of the game through six innings.
The Pirates got nothing off Cueto.
It was Cueto's game no matter what.
"He was going to go out there either way, whether we added on runs or not," Price said. "Welcome back Johnny Cueto."
"I felt really strong and confident," Cueto said through interpreter Tomas Vera. "I believe that Brian know us because he was our pitching coach. He trusts us."
Tony Sanchez reached on an infield hit in the third after six straight batters were retired. Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out in the fourth. Jordy Mercer reached on an infield hit after initially being ruled out by firstbase umpire Gerry Davis. Phillips fielded a ball in the hole between him and Votto. Votto had to rush to get back to first and missed it, replay cameras revealed.
Cueto, who started the game with an 0-2 record in spite of a 2.14 ERA, finally got the elusive run support. He had to jump start the rally himself. His teammates scored a total of four runs in his three starts. Cueto singled one out into the seventh. Hamilton forced him at second with a slow roller to short. Votto unloaded his fourth home run of the season to give Cueto the luxury of a three-run lead.
Cueto's single ended a bit of personal frustration. He was called out when he made contact with the ball in fair territory outside the batter's box in the second inning. He was called out trying to sacrifice Zack Cozart to secondbase. This time he stayed in the box and interfered with Sanchez's effort to field the bunt.
The Reds added a fourth run on Brayan Pena's double that scored Chris Heisey, who was 1-for-3, was hit by a pitch, had a stolen base and a run scored.
It was the Reds' first series win of the year.
Cueto and Liriano have been friends since both came to the major leagues. They come from different towns in the Dominican. Liriano is from Santo Domingo. Cueto is from San Pedro.
"When he got to the Pirates we started to be more friends," Cueto said.
It will be Marshall's second straight day of work, a test he needs to pass to return by the end of the week. If he feels good on Thursday, the Reds are more likely to take him off the disabled list this weekend.
Marshall pitched a scoreless inning against the Mudhens Tuesday night and struck out two batters.
"Mack Jenkins (the Reds assistant pitching coach) saw him on the live video feed last night," Bryan Price said. "It looks like he threw free and easy. There are no impediments to his delivery. He was sharp with his breaking ball and fastball. He will throw again tonight then we'll make an assessment whether to continue his rehab or activate him on the road."
The "road" is a 10-game trip through Chicago, Pittsburgh and Atlanta.
Marshall will provide another left-hander to take some of the workload off Manny Para, who has been the lone lefty in the bullpen.
"It will be a huge boost," Price said. "Manny has been our do-it-all guy. Manny leads our team in appearances. He's pitched the ninth inning. He's pitched the eighth inning. He's pitched multiple innings. He's had to close, get left-handers out, get both left-handers and right-handers out, which he's done very well. Having Sean back will give him a reprieve."
Aroldis Chapman will pitch four more bullpens, spaced three days apart. If the bullpens go well, Chapman will pitch live batting practice.
"His arm is in good shape. He just needs to build his endurance," Price said. "He wasn't able to do any conditioning. Now with his running program. He will do some PFP (pitcher's fielding practice) after he passes some tests and is cleared by (Reds' trainer) Paul Lessard. Those tests haven't been scheduled yet."
Leake wasn't perfect. His throwing error in the fourth inning may not have cost him a run but made him get two outs him to get two more outs. He also walked the leadoff hitter in the second, Pedro Alvarez, who eventually scored on a single by Gabby Sanchez.
Leake helped get the run back. He doubled to the left centerfield gap against Pirates' starter Gerrit Cole. The second of Joey Votto's four hits sent Leake home with the tying run.
"He is real competitive," Bryan Price said. "He comes out early and hits.
Andrew McCutchen singled to leadoff the fourth. Alvarez bounced a single through the hole at firstbase to put runners at first and third with no outs. On a one-hop comeback to the mound by Russel Martin, Leake threw too high to Brandon Phillips covering for what should have been a double play. The Pirates had runners on the corners again with no outs.
Leake worked out of it with no more runs scoring.
"That early in the game that was the plan; get two outs and let the run score," Leake said. "It was my fault. I was supposed to go to Cozart he couldn't get there as fast as I expected. I saw them both converge. I double clutched and threw to Brandon. I am gaining more confidence as the years go by. When I get hurt, I get hurt on the first couple pitches of an at bat. So, I've been falling behind in the count more than I'd like."
Jay Bruce singled and stole second, starting the sixth inning. Todd Frazier hit his second home run in as many games and his fourth home run of the season. Leake homered off Cole to cap the four run inning.
Frazier's home run is his team-leading fourth of the season. He is tied for second on the team with eight RBI.
"After losing the first game, it showed some character to come back and win the second one," Frazier said. "I wasn't sure it was a home run. Sometimes you surprise yourself. I knew it was in the gap because I saw the two outfielders (rightfielder and centerfielder) running that way. It was a slider. It is nice to know I have some power the other way. They have been throwing me a lot of breaking pitches. It was big that I hit it that way. I'm coming."
Leake couldn't finish the seventh.
"We'd like to see him go deeper in the game but he'll get there," Price said. "He did a nice job of getting out of trouble."
Leake's eight strikeouts tied a career high.
Neil Walker singled and rested at third on a double by Sanchez. Jordy Mercer hit a sacrifice fly. Leake struck out Travis Ishikawa, the pinch hitter but hit Sterling Marte who struck out three times against Leake.
Manny Parra got the final out of the inning.
Votto led off the bottom of the seventh against Justin Wilson with his third hit to go with a walk. With Votto on second, Wilson walked Frazier intentionally. Roger Bernadina beat out a slow roller to second. Devin Mesoraco singled two runs home on his third hit of the game. In only his seventh game since returning from a strained oblique, he leads the team with nine RBI and hitting .500.
Since Votto has moved into the second spot in the lineup the Reds have scored 26 runs. After being shut out the first game since the move, the Reds have scored 12, 7 and 7 runs.
"I'm not saying he is going to hit there the rest of his career," said Price of the shakeup for "the sake of newness."
"Sometimes in baseball there is no rhyme or reason to what happens," Price said.
"Hitting is contagious. I believe that through and through," Frazier said.
The Pirates cut into the lead against Parra.
The left-hander walked McCutchen. Alvarez hit a groundball to Votto who threw to second to get the lead runner. Zack Cozart's return throw appeared to beat Alvarez with Parra covering. Firstbase umpire ruled Alvarez out. Pirates' manager Clint Hurdle asked for a review and the call was overturned. Walker hit his fifth home run of the season and third of the series to make the score 7-5.
Only five of Walker's 59 career home runs have come from the right side. It was the first he's hit from that side of the plate, since May 6, 2011.
The Reds got three hits in the bottom of the eighth but couldn't score.
Billy Hamilton hit a pinch-hit single but Martin threw him out trying to steal. Votto singled for the fourth time and Phillips collected his second single but Bruce bounced out to Sanchez at first.
Jonathan Broxton came on for the save.
Jordy Mercer doubled to lead off the ninth. Princeton High School grad, Josh Harrison, flied out to right with Mercer moving up a base. Marte grounded out to third. Jose Tabata walked to bring McCutchen to the plate representing the go-ahead run. McCutchen fouled off three two-strike pitches before he popped out to Phillips.
"I had to hold onto the lead, the way Leake pitched. We battled so long," Broxton said. "McCutchen hits me good. I wanted to keep the ball down and let him get himself out."
Having Broxton back makes the job a little easier for Price.
"With one left-hander the bullpen gets a little unbalanced. Having Jonathan back, gets us closer to how we wanted to set up the bullpen," Price said.
Reigning Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen scored the seventh inning run that allowed the Pirates to win the suspended game, 8-7.
The game was halted by ran at 9:38 p.m. Monday with the score tied, 6-6 after six innings.
Sam LeCure was told just after 5:30 that he would start the seventh inning by pitching to Travis Snider.
"We knew what we wanted to do last night," first year manager and former pitching coach, Bryan Price said. "Relievers usually don't like to know that they're pitching. They are used to being told just before it happens. He had more notice than he usually does."
McCutchen doubled after Snider took the called third strike. Pedro Alvarez struck out but Russel Martin singled to drive McCutchen home.
Ramon Santiago was placed in the ninth hole and at shortstop as part of a double switch that removed Zack Cozart from the game. Santiago singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Billy Hamilton and went to third when Joey Votto grounded out to firstbase unassisted. Brandon Phillips struck out swinging against Tony Watson.
LeCure pitched a scoreless eighth after Clint Barmes singled and Travis Ishikawa walked as a pinch hitter for Watson. LeCure got Starling Marte on a swinging third strike and Snider on a ground out.
Jay Bruce walked with one out against Mark Melancon in the eighth but was stranded at second base.
Nick Chrisitiani allowed McCutchen's third hit of the game but held the Pirates scoreless in the ninth.
Roger Bernadina batted for Christiani to open the ninth. He struck out.
Heisey popped out for Santiago, leaving the Reds without a shortstop. The only position player left was catcher Brayan Pena. Billy Hamilton struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch by Jason Grilli, who recorded his fourth save.
Had the Reds' tied the game, Price would have had to come up with a shortstop.
"Hamilton would have moved to short," Price said. "We have confidence in him even though he hasn't played there in awhile. You have to do what you need to do to try to win there. We were hoping Bernadina or Heisey would hit a home run or double to tie it up."
The suspended game is about to restart in the seventh inning, in part, because Bryan Price was successful in his first replay challenge.
Todd Frazier hit a 438' home run by hitting the ball on the nose. He reached on a double in the fourth inning by hitting a ball off the nose.
Frazier lofted a ball down the line in shallow rightfield. Pirates' rightfielder Travis Snider was hit in the face by the ball as he slid across the foul line. Firstbase umpire, Brian Knight, signaled foul.
As the Pittsburgh trainer and manager Clint Hurdle went to check on Snider's well being, Price had a chance to review the play. Replays showed that the ball hit Snider in fair territory. The call was reversed and Frazier trotted to second with a double. He later scored on home run by Ryan Ludwick.
"We couldn't see the play from the dugout," Price said. "We knew we had time when they went to check on Snider. By the time they were finished we got the thumbs up to challenge the play."
The Reds assigned Sam Grossman to monitor close plays.
"I thought it was fair," Frazier said. "I told (firstbase coach Billy) Hatcher that I thought it was fair. Billy said, 'It hit him in the head'. I said, "I'm not talking to you." I was yelling at Jay (Bruce) and I saw Homer saying something. The Pirates' catcher said, "That might be fair." I told Phil Cuzzi (the homeplate umpire) and he said that he didn't think so. I said, "Ah you're from New Jersey. How would you know?""
Frazier thought he would get a single.
"They gave (Yadier) Molina a single and he hit it off the wall in center," Frazier said.
"I'm not in favor of instant replay," Frazier said. "At first I was but it takes the human element out of the game."
Ryan Ludwick has been playing baseball since he was five, that's three decades and had never seen this many baseballs hit this hard.
As his two-run, fourth inning, home run lofted high and deep off the batter's eye in centerfield, some press box commentator quipped, "That'll bring rain."
Guess what?
It did. What could have been a rain-shotened official game win for the Reds, if Homer Bailey could have shut the Pirates down in the fifth. It didn't happen.
The Starling Marte and Travis Snider hit massive home runs, back-to-back, off Bailey to put Pittsburgh in front 5-4.
Now Wandy Rodriguez had to put up a donut in the Reds' half of the fifth to make the Pirates a winner if the game was washed out.
That didn't happen either.
With one out Neftali Soto got his first major league hit a double down the thirdbase line as a pinch hitter for Bailey. Billy Hamilton, all 145 pounds of him, flirted with a home run, sending a ball deep enough to centerfield to allow Soto to tag up and advance to third.
Joey Votto drilled his third home run of the season to put the Reds up again, 6-5.
The rain came down harder.
Now J.J. Hoover had a chance to finish off the Pirates.
Forget that, Neil Walker and Gaby Sanchez went back-to-back leading off the sixth inning, just as they did leading off the second inning off Bailey. It was the Pirates third set of back-to-back home runs. That has only been done two other times in major league history. The Reds of 1956 were one of the teams that did it.
Bryan Morris relieved Rodriguez.
With two outs, Devin Mesoraco hit his third home run of the season to tie the game at seven.
"If Mesoraco doesn't hit that home run, we're going home with a loss right now," Price said.
The Reds scored first when Todd Frazier homered with Votto on via a walk in the first inning.
There was a light rain at the time and it just got heavier.
"You'd think because it is heavy air: it's raining, it's cooler, you wouldn't think the ball would carry the way it did," Price said. "Some of them were hit really well but some of them weren't. It made for a fascinating evening."
There were chances to stop the game that the umpiring crew led by Brian Knight had to consider. They used drying compound over the last four, half innings.
"The umpiring was trying to do the best for both teams in the sense that both teams had the same opportunity," Price said. "They thought the grounds crew had the ability to keep the field playable. We talked about it between innings. They felt like the game was playable and there shouldn't be an advantage to either club. But it started to get ugly out there, that's when Jerry said, 'enough is enough.' "
There was a lot of bad weather is coming in.
The Reds know will resume pitching when the game is resumed at 5:30 on Tuesday but wouldn't make it public.
This is Bailey's third start of the season and none of them have been exactly pretty.
Although he struck out nine, he gave up eight hits and set a career-high with four home runs allowed.
"If I had the answer to what was wrong, I'd have fixed it," Bailey said. "I have to go back to the drawing board. I am making some good pitches but every time I make a bad one, I end up paying for it."
"There was an inordinate amount of bad pitches by both teams," Price said. "They have a good pitching staff too. The Pirates weren't missing any and neither were we."
The combined 10 home runs, six by Pittsburgh and four by Cincinnati is a Great American Ball Park record. It is the most since Detroit hit eight at Wrigley Field on June 18, 2006 and the Cubs belted three.
Skip Schumaker is hitting off a tee and playing catch.
"Schumaker, who was signed as a free agent to improve depth on the Reds' bench, suffered a separated shoulder on March 21 when his glove stuck in the outfield grass at Goodyear Ballpark.
"It was anticipated the injury would take a month to heal.
“He’s out there playing catch," Bryan Price said. "He’s hitting off the tee, doing some really good things in that regard. We’re optimistic that in relatively short order he’ll be getting into game action.”
The Reds will send him on a rehab assignment in the minor leagues before he is activated.
"He’ll definitey go and get at bats in the minor leagues. He definitely won’t be activated out of the batting cage,” Price said.
The Reds started the season with eight players on the disabled list.
Two, Jonathan Broxton and Devin Mesoraco have returned to action.
Sean Marshall, the left-handed curveball specialist is nearly ready to come back.
"Marshall going to start back to back outings with Louisvlle tomorrow/ “Then we’ll reassess where he is in his rehab,” Price said.
There is a chance Marshall will be ready this week.
“There’s a chance. We certainly don’t want to put the cart in front of the horse here. We want him to get through these outings. Going back-to-back for the first time is a step in the right direction _ a huge step in the right direction, actually. We’ll see how he comes out of it. Right now, he’s extremely optimistic.”
"He threw the ball outstanding," Bryan Price said. "He threw all of his pitches, including his slider. He was sharp _ extremely enthusiastic and happy to be out there, as we all were. It was exciting.”
"Throwing off mound big step for Chapman, who was hit by a batted ball hit by Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals in a Cactus League game on March 19.
A titanium plate was surgically implanted above his left eyebrow to fuse bone fragments on March 20. He was inactive for two weeks before he could exercise or play long toss.
“Well, it’s a step," Price said. "It was an obvious and essential step to the next thing, which will be live batting practice and game situations, and I think facing batters will be the biggest hurdle for him initially, but we haven’t seen any reason to feel like he’s other than optimistic about getting back on the mound.”
What’s next? What’s timetable?
“He’s going to throw a handful of bullpens before we consider facing live hitters and game situations, so I don’t know an exact timetable. His next step will be another bullpen," Price said.
It has not been decided if live batting practice will mean throwing without a screen.
“I can’t say with certainty," Price said. "It will really end up with where he’s comfortable. If he wants to throw with a screen in front of him that first time facing hitters, that’s up to him. That’s an offer, a courtesy we would make to anybody doing the same thing. Sometimes, the screen forces you to try to throw the ball and then finish behind it, and it can affect in a negative way the pitching mechanics. That’s why I don’t like the screen as much. We’ll see. The big test will be when he gets back into game, facing live competition.”
His next bullpen has not been scheduled.
“We’ll see how he responds tomorrow," Price. "He was really leaning on it for 25 pitches today. Our protocol typically has been to put two days in between bullpens. However, he has been able to throw. He’s been very active in his long toss, so he may feel good enough to throw on an every other day schedule.”
Chapman was pleased to get a chance to throw the bullpen.
“I feel really good. Everything went well. My fastball was really good. My command was good, The breaking ball worked good Everything was great. I feel really well," Chapman said through interpreter Tomas Vera.
“I do whatever they decide to do with me. I have to wait for what the doctor’s decision is, for Brysn decision is. Whatever they tell me to do I do it. I feel (good) physically, mentally, and my arm feels really well,” Chapman said.
Zack Cozart, the Reds' player in the worst slump, broke through with a two-run double with the bases loaded after starting the season 2-for-31. The ground-rule double sent Devin Mesoraco, who walked to third. Cingrani grounded to short with the infield in. Mesoraco running on contact was thrown out at the plate. Cingrani tried to get to second during the rundown but was cut off by catcher Ryan Hanigan's throw to the shortstop. Yunel Escobar threw out Cozart at home to end the inning.
The hit started the Reds on an eight-run feeding frenzy against Cesar Ramos and four other Rays' pitchers.
Tony Cingrani started for the Reds and pitched in his 21st game without allowing more than five hits, however one of the five he surrendered was a two-run home run to Ben Zobrist. Cingrani walked the ninth batter in the Rays' lineup, firstbaseman Sean Rodriguez.
Rays' manager Joe Maddon elected to bat Ramos in the eighth spot in the batting order.
"We don't know how long he'll go until the game starts but we don't expect him to go too deep so we may have pinch hit for him sooner than later," Maddon said.
The hook came for Ramos, who was replacing Matt Moore (elbow) in the starting rotation, was removed in two batters into the third.
Billy Hamilton led off with a sharp single to left. Joey Votto, batting second for the second straight day, homered to the smokestacks in right center. It was Votto's second home run of the year and doubled his RBI total from two to four.
Brandon Gomes replaced Ramos.
Brandon Phillips singled. Todd Frazier, batting cleanup, forced Phillips at second with a ground ball to short. Jay Bruce walked. After Ryan Ludwick struck out, Devin Mesoraco crushed his second home run of the season into the upper deck in left. Bruce doubled and scored from third later in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Mesoraco.
"It is important to add on," said Mesoraco, who hit an 0-2 pitch 443 feet for his second home run. "I was surprised I got a pitch out over the plate. It was probably a mistake. I think sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves to do too much, telling yourself you have to do this or do that. We have to bear down and not try to do too much."
Mesoraco is hitting a cool .500.
"Devin has plenty of pull power," Bryan Price said. "He also has power the other way and really battles. He is a tough out with two strikes."
The 4-8 start has been filled with missed opportunities, stranding runners in scoring position.
"It is a small sample size. I don't know if you can say we aren't a good team with runners in scoring position."
The Reds have given away early leads also. In two of the four losses to the Cardinals, the Reds held a 3-0 lead and a 4-0 lead.
"We've had games where we scored early and gave up the lead," Price said. "You never can feel you have the game in the bag. Dusty (Baker) used to say you want to keep adding on so that a grand slam won't hurt you. I always remembered that. Anything can happen in this game. A reliever could struggle with control or someone can lose a ball in the sun."
Cingrani gave up five hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings but he struck out six.
Nick Christiani allowed a double to pinch hitter, James Loney and Zobrist's second home run of the game from the other side of the plate.
Chris Heisey added a pinch-hit grand slam home run off Covington, Kentucky native Josh Lueke in the eighth inning.
It was Heisey's first career grand slam and his seventh pinch-hit home run.
"Heisey's with the grand slam was big. To me pressure is self induced. We know we have a good team. You would like to see the guys relax and play the game they are capable of doing. Today is an indication that we are getting closer," Price said.
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was asked about slow starts and how to deal with them.
The Rays started the 2011 season 0-6.
Maddon bought the best whiskey, Charbay from the Napa Valley.
"We left Tropicana Field to go on the road. I bought some great whiskey, not good whiskey, great whiskey," Maddon said. "I bought Charbay at the airport. I took it on the plane. We had a toast to the best 0-6 team in the history of baseball."
The Rays beat the White Sox the next day. Then lost two in a row before a five game winning streak settled things down enroute to a 91-71 record and a playoff appearance.
"You take one game at a time, man," Maddon said. "It is Baseball Psych 101. It is. It is all about the moment. You don't want to analyze yourself or make crazy moves just because you had a bad start. You will only hurt yourself. It would happen at some point anyway but if you're in a 4-8 stretch and you record is 40-23 you wouldn't feel it."
Maddon has a connection with Reds' first-year manager Bryan Price. When Maddon managed Midland in the Texas league in 1985 and 1986, Price was one of his pitchers in the Texas organization.
"The only talks I had with him was the third or fourth inning on his second trip to the mound to take me out," Price said. "I pitched my way back to the California League. We didn't have a very good team but what I remember about him is that he always came to the park in a good mood and was always positive."
Maddon remembers Price.
"He was very intelligent," Maddon said. "You could tell even at that age that he would be in the game in some form for a long time."
Maddon likes the "vibe" in Cincinnati.
"Just be patient," Maddon advises Reds' fans. "I like this team. Once Hamilton gets his feet on the ground, he will be an absolute pain in the butt. You have a nice pitching staff."
The MRI revealed, "a strained flexor mass" in his right forearm.
"I don't know if it's called a strain or a sprain, but there is more time off to let it simmer down," Bryan Price said. "He will work hard on staying in shape and doing all the other things he's capable of doing. It is a setback. His timetable will be pushed back fairly significantly."
The injury is different from Jonathan Broxton's in that surgery is not required.
Zack Cozart, who had a lonely one hit coming into the game, doubled over the thirdbase bag and down the line in left. Reds' starter Alfredo Simon, who has one hit in three at bats this season, battled Cobb by fouling off four pitches before grounding out to secondbaseman, Ben Zobrist, advancing Cozart to third. Billy Hamilton flied to left to end the mild threat.
Votto hit a ground-rule double on a fly that David DeJesus had trouble tracking. The ball bounded off the warning track and into the stands. As if to illustrate, the Reds' two-hole hitter, has none of the speed the leadoff hitter, Billy Hamilton has, Votto was thrown out at home on a single to center by Brandon Phillips, who took second on Kevin Kiermaier's perfect peg. Phillips was caught by former teammate Ryan Hanigan trying to steal third. Jay Bruce struck out.
Thirdbase coach Steve Smith is taking his decision hard.
"We are a good offensive team that is struggling," Bryan Price said. "When you struggle, you try to do things to compensate. Smitty is beating himself up right now. He is aggressive by nature. I've known him a long time. I'm happy to have him on my staff. We don't want to do things out of the ordinary but we want to stay aggressive."
Kiermairer was called up temporarily because the designated hitter is not used in National League parks. Manager Joe Maddon wanted an extra position player.
"The way we had the shift, I knew if a ball was hit up the middle, I would have to be on it to have a play. Defense is my bread and butter," said the Indiana native, who grew up a Cubs fan.
The play and the Phillips caught stealing gave Cobb a second wind.
"I try to leave emotions out of it," Cobb said. "It was huge. When the defense picks you up like that you can't help but get excited. Ryan (Hanigan) made it even better. A couple of times I was going to shake him off but thought to myself, 'What am I doing?' If anybody knows how to pitch these guys it's Ryan."
Meanwhile Alfredo Simon was mowing down the Rays' hitters, save James Loney, who hit a home run halfway up the rightfield pavillion to lead off the second innings. Simon retired 12 straight fro the second inning into the sixth, when Zobrist singled. Simon was aided by fine plays from Votto and Phillips during the stretch.
Simon pitched eight innings, allowing just five hits and a walk.
"He is seizing the opportunity," Price said. "He sees himself as a starter and he has kept us in both games. That is big with Latos out."
"He (Simon) was amazing," catcher Brayan Pena said.
Votto walked against closer Grant Balfour but Phillips grounded into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play on a 3-2 pitch.
The Reds held a meeting after the game.
"It was just a reminder," Price said. "We're pressing. We're trying to create success. We're all pressing trying to do too much. It will turn around."
"We're not happy," Pena said. "We trust each other. It was a very positive meeting. We're not scoring. It's no secret. The scoreboard is out there. We need to relax a little more and execute."
Mat Latos felt something in his elbow during his abbreviated bullpen session on Friday.
Mat obviously didn’t feel very good yesterday," Bryan Price said. "Everything started out fine, then he threw a pitch that bothered the inside of his right elbow, and we’re smart enough to know that we needed to shut him down. They’re doing some testing on the area to see if there’s some swelling and tightness in the area. We’re hoping that’s all it is. We’re optimistic that’s it, but it is a step back.”
Latos was frustrated and surly when asked about "the news."
“I didn’t get any news. Nobody told me anything, I just knew it,” Latos said “It’s frustrating to take care of a problem you had at the end of last year, to make everything better, and to not be able to get out there and throw. It seems like every time I take a step forward, I take eight steps backward. The back of my elbow feels fine. That was the problem in Arizona. Now it’s the forearm.”
The team ordered an MRI which took place at 9:00 a.m.
“They think they’ve kind of got it pinpointed. They want to be 100 percent sure. I’ll find out later today what’s going on with it,” Latos said.
Latos doesn't know how the current problems relate to his past injuries.
“I throw a baseball or living. I’m not a doctor. I couldn’t tell you. All I know is it sucks not being able to play. It sucks not being able to go out there and throw the ball and be on the field. We’ve played the Cardinals (in two series). We’ve got a pretty good schedule first month, and it sucks not being out there. It’s definitely bugging me. I’m definitely not getting a good night’s sleep – actually many nights. I’m in the dark, as much as you guys are,” Latos said.
Mat Latos felt something in his elbow during his abbreviated bullpen session on Friday.
Mat obviously didn’t feel very good yesterday," Bryan Price said. "Everything started out fine, then he threw a pitch that bothered the inside of his right elbow, and we’re smart enough to know that we needed to shut him down. They’re doing some testing on the area to see if there’s some swelling and tightness in the area. We’re hoping that’s all it is. We’re optimistic that’s it, but it is a step back.”
Latos was frustrated and surly when asked about "the news."
“I didn’t get any news. Nobody told me anything, I just knew it,” Latos said “It’s frustrating to take care of a problem you had at the end of last year, to make everything better, and to not be able to get out there and throw. It seems like every time I take a step forward, I take eight steps backward. The back of my elbow feels fine. That was the problem in Arizona. Now it’s the forearm.”
The team ordered an MRI which took place at 9:00 a.m.
“They think they’ve kind of got it pinpointed. They want to be 100 percent sure. I’ll find out later today what’s going on with it,” Latos said.
Latos doesn't know how the current problems relate to his past injuries.
“I throw a baseball or living. I’m not a doctor. I couldn’t tell you. All I know is it sucks not being able to play. It sucks not being able to go out there and throw the ball and be on the field. We’ve played the Cardinals (in two series). We’ve got a pretty good schedule first month, and it sucks not being out there. It’s definitely bugging me. I’m definitely not getting a good night’s sleep – actually many nights. I’m in the dark, as much as you guys are,” Latos said.
“No messages being sent. Just trying to be creative in what we’re doing. More than anything, just rolling out the same philosophy and going down the same road doesn’t resonate with me. I want us to perform better. I want us to core more runs. I’m willing to do what it takes to change the lineup and get us going.”
When the Reds posted its lineup early Saturday, I could hear the "twitteratzie" yell a collective, "It's about time."
It seams like every fan, whoever graced a couch, wanted the Reds to hit Votto in the second spot. Most of them have their playing days if any so far behind them, they can tell you they were all-stars without fear of a person checking the facts.
The Reds are batting Votto in the second spot today for the ninth time in his career and the first time since, August 8, 2008 against Houston. I those days of course the fans were screaming, "What's he doing in the lineup? Why are we giving this game away?"
Billy Hamilton will lead off against Tampa Bay Rays' right-hander Alex Cobb.
Votto will bat second with Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, Ryan Ludwick, Brayan Pena, Zack Cozart and starting pitcher Alfredo Simon following in that order.
This isn’t really a 10-game look, even though we started out the season 3-7," Bryan Price said. "We look at things over recent history as an organization and we’re just trying to get more guys on base in front of the middle of the lineup and try to create some newness to it. Maybe for no other reason than we need some newness. We’ve been at times a very productive offensive club, but we’ve gotten off to a slow start and I just don’t feel like a sit-on-my-hands-type of approach is the way to get these things turned around. I think we’ve got an outstanding group here, but we haven’t really hit on all cylinders yet, and I think we need to try something different.”
The Reds have been notorious "slow starters", a glaring example of which was the 4-8 start the 2012 team had. That team won 97 games and then manager Dusty Baker stayed the course and brought the team in as Central Division Champions.
Price communicated the move to Votto before he made the decision.
Talked to Joey," Price said. "I don’t think anybody’s going to be too disgruntled going from second to third in the lineup. It’s a little different going the other way. Joey understands it. Joey and I had a great conversation in spring training. His willingness to do whatever is best for the club is outstanding. It’s a necessary part of what we’re trying to do here. Right now, we need to shake something up. We need to make some changes. We need to try to find a way to take a great group of baseball players and actually start to play to our ability. I don’t know if this is going to make a huge difference. I think it can. I’m optimistic about that.”
The move was not to send a message.
“No messages being sent," Price said. "Just trying to be creative in what we’re doing. More than anything, just rolling out the same philosophy and going down the same road doesn’t resonate with me. I want us to perform better. I want us to core more runs. I’m willing to do what it takes to change the lineup and get us going.”
It is somewhat.slike a slump busting method used by Davey Johnson, Billy Martin and others, just putting names in a hat and filling the lineup with a blind draw.
Manager Bryan Price did not get his fourth win as the Reds' manager because Tampa Bay's David Price threw 8 1/3 innings of shutout baseball at the Cincinnati Reds in a 2-1 loss.
Reds' ace Johnny Cueto was solid again. He pitched seven strong innings, allowing just five hits. One of those hits was a home run by Matt Joyce and another was a ground single to left by Evan Longoria in the first inning. Cueto did walk four, including two that set the table for the Rays' thirdbaseman.
"I didn't feel right in the first inning," Cueto said. "I'm human and reacted to some close pitches that went against me but I was careful not to let the umpire see it."
It was Cueto's third good outing and he has made his starts in three straight turns, something he could not do last year.
He has pitched seven innings in all three of them, allowing just five runs for a 2.14 ERA but is 0-2.
The Reds wasted a leadoff double by Mesoraco in the third and Brandon Phillips in the fourth.
"You hate to waste good pitching," Bryan Price said. "We've played good defense and made some big pitches. We're not built just to move runners along. We may do some things at the bottom of the lineup and the top but the middle of our lineup is built to drive in runs. They will be driving them in at some point."
The Reds managed just four hits off Price, the Vanderbilt grad, now has the highest winning percentage of any pitcher active pitcher with at least 150 starts.
Joey Votto hit his first home run of the season off Price with one out in the ninth. Rays' manager Joe Maddon replaced his starter with Grant Balfour, who was in the Reds' organization in 2006 but never pitched in the majors. He was rehabbing his shoulder when he met his current wife Angie Kist from Colerain.
Balfour had trouble closing out the Reds. He struck out Ryan Ludwick looking. It was Ludwick's fourth strikeout of the night. Balfour walked Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco but caught pinch hitter Brayan Pena looking for the third out to end the game.
The Reds 3-6 start this season may be a good sign.
All three of their previous playoff teams got off to a slow start.
The 2010 team won the Central Division with a 91-71 record. The team's record after nine games was 5-4 but then dropped five straight games. They were 5-7 after 12 games.
The 2011 team missed the playoffs with a 79-83 record. That team started faster but faded. The Reds were 6-3 after nine games and 8-4 after 12.
The 2012 team was 3-6 after nine, just like the Reds of 2014. They were 4-8 after 12 but rallied with a phenomenal July and August to win the Central with a 97-65 record.
Last season the Reds started out with a better 5-4 record but lost the next three to post a 5-7 record after 12. The Reds earned a wild card spot with a 90-72 record, in spite of losing the last five games of the season. They were 2 1/2 games from the top record in the National League after 157 games.
The 2014 team takes the field against Tampa Bay with a 3-6 record four games behind the 7-2 Milwaukee Brewers.
The team is starting to get back some of its missing pieces. There were eight players on the disabled list to start the season, including Jonathan Broxton and Devin Mesoraco. Both are back from injury.
Mat Latos had a setback on Tuesday. He was supposed to pitch for Louisville against Columbus but was scratched with inflammation in his elbow. Latos threw a bullpen on Friday.
Skip Schumaker, who separated his shoulder in Goodyear, AZ, is rehabbing on the disabled list..
"We hope he can help us sometime in May," Bryan Price said.
Aroldis Chapman will throw off a mound on Monday.
"He had the staples removed," Price said. "We won't put him in harms way but we'll start to do other things like fielding practice before he starts throwing to hitters."
Sean Marshall is expected to be back on the 18th of April.
Jack Hannahan is on the 60-day disabled list. He had shoulder surgery last October.
