Rookie Davis will pitch the Cactus League opener for the Reds. Amir Garrett will pitch against the American League champion Cleveland Indians on Saturday.
Reds fans have forgotten the two pitchers the Reds acquired in the last season trade with the Milwaukee Brewers for Jonathan Broxton.
They both have impressed manager Bryan Price.
Barrett Astin and Kevin Shackelford came to the Reds in the
trade that sent Jonathan Broxton to Milwaukee at the end of the 2014
season. At the time two minor league
pitchers for a veteran relief pitcher didn’t cause a stir with anyone. It was largely forgotten until both threw
impressive live bullpen sessions on Monday.
Astin, a right-hander had a good year as a starter and
reliever in Pensacola last year. He was
9-3 with a 2.26 ERA in 37 games (11 starts).
Dayton Dragons fans may remember him as one of the starting pitchers for
Wisconsin in the Midwest League in 2014.
 |
| http://www.wiedemannbeer.com/ |
Shackelford appeared in 35 games for Pensacola and
Louisville all in relief. He had a 1.38
ERA at Pensacola in 10 games. The
right-hander had eight saves and a 2.30 ERA after he was promoted to
Louisville.
“Our coaching staff talked a lot about Astin being a true
ground ball pitcher last year,” Price said.
“He is a very polished guy. He
made strides last year to put himself on the roster.”
“When we traded Broxton, we weren’t even pulling from their top
20 prospect list when we made that deal,” Price said. “You know so little about the other organization’s
prospect to begin with. To have both
guys in the conversation to be able to help this team, shows we got a nice
return.”
Astin, 25, was taken in the third round by Milwaukee in
2013. Shackelford, 27, was chosen in the
21st round by Milwaukee in 2010.
Astin is a ground ball pitcher which will play well at Great
American Ball Park.
“I consider myself a groundball pitcher, “ Astin said.
“I throw a hard sinker. I rely heavily on it. It gets me a lot of groundballs.”
Astin changed teams right after his first season of
professional baseball.
“I didn’t think to much on it at the time,” Astin said. “Looking back on it. It gave me a great opportunity to get to the
big leagues with a fresh start.”
Mesoraco Taking Building Stamina
Devin Mesoraco has no limitations but the Reds are being
cautious with the catcher who has been in 39 games total for the last two
seasons.
“It’s a longer spring there is no impetus to speed things
along,” Price said. “We’re just building
stamina. He hit in the cage early and
tracked pitches in the live batting practice.
We don’t want him to do too much, too soon.”
Duvall and Schebler Expected To Boost Offense
Adam Duvall took the leftfield job from Scott Schebler last
spring. The pair were platooned early
but Schebler struggled and was sent back to Louisville to get more at bats,
while Duvall made the All-Star team.
Schebler was ready by the time Jay Bruce was traded to the
Mets. Schebler hit .329 in his last 44
games of the season. Duvall hit 33 home
runs and drove in 103.
“Corner outfielder are run producing positions. As much as I talked about the defense of
Duvall in leftfield and Schebler in rightfield,
I’d be thrilled to see them to continue on from what they did last
year,” Price said.
Let The Games Begin
Price is eager to start the slate of exhibition games.
“It will be nice to talk about something on the field
besides guys fielding grounders,” Price said.
No comments:
Post a Comment