Reds Start Cactus League Tomorrow

 

The first full slate of Cactus League games start today (February 25) when the Reds' meet the Cleveland Guardians in the opener.

The Reds lost 102 games last year but manager David Bell was eager to start a full schedule of training with new faces and new rules.

"It's great being here it is just a reminder of how we love doing this," Bell said. "There are no shortcuts.  We have to dive into the six weeks of camp. The expectations are always the same.  It is to win each and every moment and compete."

Joey Votto is taking batting practice.  He will likely start slowly during the Cactus League after a pair of surgeries.  Tyler Stephenson and Spencer Steer will get some time at first base.  The Reds brought back Curt Casali and Luke Maile to backup Stephenson, who is healthy and will get time at first base and DH.

Jonathan India shed 25 pounds after gaining weight before camp last season.

"I thought the extra weight would help me hit with more power," India told the Reds' Hot Stove League.  "Maybe it contributed to my injuries.  I feel better now."

India missed 48 games with a hamstring injury in his encore to his Rookie of the Year 2021 season.

A week of internal competition is in the books.  Today they start to test themselves against others with left-handed pitcher Brandon Williamson starting agaist the Guardians and right-handed Cal Quantril.

The Reds have three talented you pitchers, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft.  Williamson, who was Lodolo's teammate at Texas Christian University.  Was a late addition to major league camp and is expected to compete for one of the two openings in the starting rotatation.  Another is Luke Weaver, who will start against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.  Greene will go on Monday against the Texas Rangers on Monday.  The rest of the spring rotation is to be determined.

Weaver, Luis Cessa, Connor Overton will compete with Williamson for the two open spots in the rotation.  Justin Dunn, who was injured until August 8 when he started against the New York Mets and Levi Stoudt, who like Dunn came from the Seattle Mariners organization, are also in the mix.  Stoudt was in the trade for Luis Castillo on July 29. He was competing for a spot in the Mariners starting rotation a year ago.

Cessa came out of the bullpen to make 10 starts (1-3, 4.30 ERA).  He will be competing for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic this spring.

Overton made four effective starts for the Reds before he was sidelined with a stress fracture in his lower back.  He was 1-0 with a sparkling 1.82 ERA.

Weaver has started 81 games for St. Louis and Arizona since 2016 but made just one start among 26 appearances last season between Arizona and Kansas City.

The Reds are looking for a shortstop, third baseman and a center fielder while Nick Senzel continues to mend.  Veteran Kevin Newman will be a key to stabilizing the left side of the Reds' infield. Jose Barrero finished the season at shortstop but Ely De La Cruz, the Reds' top prospect, will likely start in Triple A and Matt McLain will try to nail down the shortstop position.

TJ Friedl, Stuart Fairchild, Jake Fraley, Will Benson, Mike Siani will try to join the injured Nick Senzel and Wil Myers in the outfield mix.

The key is the Reds three youthfull starters, who pitching coach Derek Johnson compares to the Braves trio of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux.  The comparison is apt although Steve Avery was among the three starters that solidified the Braves rotation.  Maddux came later.

The Braves lost 106 games in 1988.  The Reds lost 102 last season.  The Braves lost 97 games in 1989 and 1990 before starting their run of Division titles in 1991.  The Reds pitchers are now aware of those expectations.

"The three of us talk about being the core, everyday," Greene said.  "Last year DJ got us together and brought up the Braves.  Looking at us in that light is pretty special.  Having the friendship but also the competitiveness is exciting.  The chemistry couldn't be better."

Lodolo was too young to remember the Braves to get the comparison.

"To be honest I've only seen highlights.  I didn't know what they threw.  DJ talked to us about it.  That's how he wants us think about us," Lodolo admited.

Ashcraft thrives on the internal competition.

"One of our main goals is to make sure we're a unit and staying together," Ashcraft said.  "One way to have success is to root for each other but to hold each other accountable.  We haven't really hit that point where someone says you have to do this and that.  We're still feeling it out and taking baby steps.  This is just our second season so we don't have roles yet within our group."

Overall the Reds have raw talent that Bell and his staff intend to mold into a winner within a year or two.

Hall of Famer, Barry Larkin, was working with the young players on the practice fields Wednesday.

"There is a lot of talent here," Larkin said.  "I like the way they are going about their work.  Their effort has been solid."

Tim McCarver Dead At 81 Former Cardinal And Phillies Catcher Taught Me A Lot

 

 

 

I am saddened by the death of All-Star catcher Tim McCarver, who died this morning at the age of 81.

I thought I knew a lot about baseball in 1981, when I moved for work to New York City.  McCarver was the Mets every day broadcaster with Ralph Kiner.

He had that laid back southern drawl that was easier to listen to than the gruff cacaphony that I was hearing in the New York streets but moreover, McCarver offered insights into the game.

I don't know who said it about McCarver but the quote I heard was, "If you ask McCarver the time of day, he will tell you how the watch works."

Maybe, it was a good line but he also made me think when he would broadcast.  He wasn't a "homer" in which the home team could do not wrong.  McCarver, having knowledge from a 21-year playing career that he began at the age of 17 in 1959.  He would point out when players were in the wrong.

"Praise without criticism ceases to be praise," McCarver once said.

He played in three World Series catching Hall of Fame pitchers Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton.  He was teased for his racial views coming out of high school by Gibson.  He and Carlton clashed at first but became so close that Carlton said, "When we die, we'll be buried six feet, six inches apart." Of course that is the distance between the mound and the catcher.

What McCarver taught me was the little nuances of the game.  He would point out that the risk of bringing the infield in was that a lot of short flares off the handle of the bat would fall in the shallow outfield.  He pointed out his disagreement with the conventional wisdom of guarding the line in the late innings against every hitter.  He pointed out that unless the righthanded batter was a pure pull hitter, it didn't make sense to pull the thirdbaseman toward the foul line.  "If you didn't play the thirdbaseman there for six innings, why would you change in the seventh inning."  

McCarver thought the opposite field outfielder often played too deep.  There were many insights that I found useful later on.  While some found him too detailed and making trivial or obvious points, I agreed with his explanation that there were people tuning in who were new to the game and needed the detail to understand it.

I remember him filling dead time in games with his knowledge of Frank Sinatras phrasing of songs, his appreciation of the humor of dead pan comic Stephen Wright.

Later when I started working Reds' games I was sitting in the back row of the Riverfront Stadium press box.  I kept a couple pencils that were sharpened so often that you could barely write with them but I kept them because they had full erasers.

One afternoon McCarver asked to borrow a pencil.  I had a long pencil with no eraser at all among the stubby pencils with all erasers.  McCarver picked up the long pencil with no eraser and made a remark to me about the others.  I explained them to him and told him I admired his confidence that he chose the one without the eraser.  He had a good laugh and always remembered me when he came to Cincinnati.

He had a special relationship with the goof ball elevator operater, Schneider, who would act like he was doctoring the elevator buttons with sand paper during a Gaylord Perry controversy of scuffing the baseball.

These are the little personal things I will remember more than his .271 carerr batting average.

RIP Tim

Reds Pitching Trio Compared To Braves Great Rotation

 

 

 

The Atlanta Brave dominated its division in the 1990's.

They won 11 division titles between 1991 and 2002, winning over 100 games five times with pitchers, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery and later added Greg Maddux.

But in 1988, the Braves with Smoltz and Glavine in the rotation lost 106 games.

The Reds and in particular pitching coach, Derek Johnson, is telling Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft that they compare to the Braves trio.

"Us three came up together and we talk about it (as being the foundation of the rotation), you obviously want to look at it as a starting five but it is good internal competition," Lodolo said.

Lodolo (4-7) won all four games after July 10.  He dropped a 5.81 ERA to 3.66 by the end of the season.

"I started to realize what worked," Lodolo said. 

  admited not knowing much about Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz.  "To be honest I've only seen highlights.  I didn't know what they threw.  DJ talked to us about it.  That's how he wants us think about us."

Greene was 5-13 last season in 24 starts.  Glavine lost 17 games in 1988.

"The three of us talk about being the core, everyday," Greene said.  "Last year DJ got us together and brought up the Braves.  Looking at us in that light is pretty special.  Having the friendship but also the competitiveness is exciting.  The chemistry couldn't be better."

Ashcraft didn't start the season with the big league club but joined the rotation on May 22.  He won four of his first five decisions but a minor injury caused him to fade at the end.

"One of our main goals is to make sure we're a unit and staying together. One way to have success is to root for each other but to hold each other accountable.  We haven't really hit that point where someone says you have to do this and that.  We're still feeling it out and taking baby steps.  This is just our second season so we don't have roles yet within our group."

The one player who is most familiar with the Braves trio enough to make the comparison is Tyler Stephenson, an Atlanta native born in 1996.  He was a tot during the Braves hay day but is more familiar.

When asked about the comparison made by Johnson, Stephenson reacted. "Two righties and a lefty, I like it.  Our guys throw harder than they (the Braves) did. I grew up watching the Braves.  They had three Hall of Fame pitchers, so nothing against them.  You look at our guys and what they did in their first year and what they accomplished.  We look for a big jump in year two.  It's going to be fun to be a part of."

Tyler Stephenson Comes Into Camp As The New Young Veteran

 

 

 Tyler Stephenson is in his fifth Major League camp with the Reds.

At 26, his two years of total service time, makes him fifth in terms of service with the Reds.

Stephenson along with Jonathan India burst onto the scene in regular roles in 2021.  He was recognized with two third place votes for Rookie of the Year in 2021 an honor won by India.

The pair was counted on in 2022 to allow the Reds to be competitive in 2022 but injuries put the kabash on the Reds plans.  Stephenson suffered a concussion, broken thumb and on July 23 had his season ended with a broken clavical.  He played in just 50 games, hitting .319 with six home runs and 35 Runs Batted In.

Still he caught more games 43 than any othere Reds' catchers and the pitching staff had a 4.86 ERA when he caught.

Stephenson, who hit in the cage a little today, is just happy to be back and around his teammates.

"I'm hoping to have a healthy season and just be around my teammates," Stephenson said.  "When you rehab, you come in early and don't have to stay around for games. It is good to be around everybody again and be involved."

His involvement will be a little different.  Curt Cassali, who shared catching with Tucker Barnhart before spending two years with the Giants, is back.  Luke Maille, a Covington Catholic grad, is also in camp to play a role in catching this season.

"They have experience," Stephenson said. "Everybody knows how great Curt is.  It is good to have him back.  I just met Luke today.  There is a guy that I work out who was with Cleveland.  He told me a lot of good things about him."

Stehphenson will not be catching as much.  He will spend time a DH and firstbase.

"David (Bell) called and I've had conversations with Nick (GM Krall). I'm looking forward to being in the lineup more.  It will be an adjustment.  We talked about 140 games. I am looking forward to see how that goes," Stephenson said.

Stephenson also helped make an equipment adjustment over the winter. He wears an EVO Shield chest protector and went to Chicago to talk to them.  He has a refigured chest protector with extra padding.

"It feels good.  I've used it in blocking drills.  We won't really know until we get into games.  I was hit with a hundred mile an hour pitch directly on the clavical.  Who knows if anything would have stopped it," Stephenson said. 

The Reds will have some new faces in the lineup and will be a lot younger.  Stephenson mentioned players that could help like Matt McClain and Noelvi Marte.  Elly De La Cruz may need more time at Triple A but he is a high end prospect right now.

"I'm curious about what our average age will be," Stephenson said.

Stephenson has been around manager David Bell for five years now and has confidence in his skipper.

"His first year was in 2019, my first camp.  I saw how everyone rallied around him. He has taught me about handling adversity.  It is just his tone.  He's very mellow.  We know he has our back and he believes in us.  He never doubts us whether we're going good or bad."

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