Dateline: 318 Kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico
Alexis Diaz hurt his left hamstring in one of the first drills of spring training camp.
The Reds held him out for awhile but he didn’t pitch in Cactus League games well enough to not be a concern to the Reds. He was scheduled to pitch in the final game before leaving Goodyear but was scratched.
Ian Gibaut had a great camp and made the team as a non-roster player. Graham Ashcraft also got word that he was in.
“We scratched him and we visited with him, me DJ, Franky (Mulloy, manager, biomechanics), Simone (Bannaccorso, strength and conditioning Daytona). What happened was he had the hamstring issue earlier. His lead leg is not where it needs to be. He’s got some moving parts,” Reds’ manager Terry Francona said. “There’s multiple concerns. We’re sending him out there. He’s either going to get hurt or pitch the way he needs to. It’s just not fair. We’re going to give him a chance to get right.”
The Reds have three outfielders for two slots. The Reds have until the morning of March 27 to determine which among Stuart Fairchild, Jacob Hurtubise and Blake Dunn will be the odd man out.
Francona has not had much time to determine a closer. That is also a decision which is forthcoming.
“I haven’t given it a ton of thought, yet,” Francona said. “Once we get on that plane, we’ll kind of….I don’t think it’s necessary that we name a closer. We want Diaz to be that guy. With that there is responsibility and when I say that, I don’t mean, he’s not living up because he came in here in great shape. We have to be fair to him because that role carries a lot of responsibility. We talked to the bullpen and told them, "We'll get there the best way we can.”
“This is year 46 for me, it (spring training) never changes, you worry,” Francona said. “Then when the bell rings, the game is different. You’re pitching to a scouting report. It is different.”
Spring training results are different for players for a variety of reasons.
“I don’t care if we’re playing a game in December. I want to see our guys do well,” Francona said. “But saying that, it is a real season for some guys and for some guys it isn’t. There are guys trying to establish their fastball, throwing it when they shouldn’t. We explained that to the guys at the very first meeting. That’s why you see some guys, who played winter ball the whole winter. They are way ahead of guys. Or you have some guy that has a great spring but it doesn’t match up with a role. Then the guy makes the team and you have a shitty role for him and you have to send him back after a month.”
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