Dateline: 318 Kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico
March 13 started with a threat of rain and the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Reds was moved up one hour to avoid the late afternoon, dampening of the desert.
The big news before the contest is the slow walking of Andrew Abbott’s first competitive activity since August 2024 when his left shoulder balked, was handled adroitly. The Reds medical and management staff wanted the shoulder to dictate the timetable for Abbott’s return and not the calendar’s artificial opening day deadline.
Abbott took the mound against the San Diego Padres Triple A club in Goodyear to face Louisville. He pitched two innings considered a success to pitching coach Derek Johnson and Reds’ skipper, Terry Francona.
“(The report) was really good,” Francona said. “In fact Abbott had such good innings, he had to throw some more. He came in today and felt good. I was really excited about that.”
Carson Spiers, in pursuit of the fifth and final spot in the Reds’ starting rotation, pitched four innings in the Triple A game.
“Carson had four good innings,” Francona said. “It went really well. It ended up being a good day.”
Abbott, who is the favorite to prevail over Spiers and Graham Ashcraft for that coveted fifth spot, still has a path to get there. As the fifth starter that may not be needed in the first round of the rotation with scheduled off days and weather threats, Abbott has a window to be ready.
“If there is a hiccup, not just him but weather wise, it could derail that first start,” Francona cautioned. “But there is a route to him pitching.”
Spencer Steer is back in the batting cage, anxiously awaiting the start of his throwing program. Steer dealt with a sore shoulder all of last season but grinded through it. The Reds want him 100 percent healthy before he gets back to action.
“He’s chomping at the bit. And you know what? That’s what good players do,” Francona said. “What I told him was we obviously want you back because he’s a good player. But what was the very first thing I said to you and I think it was November. He goes we’re going to do this right. So let’s not have false timetables. Opening day is a big thing and I respect that. This kid played through this all last year, so he’s a tough kid. If you see him, he’s going to be healthy.”
Tyler Stephenson was scratched as the designated hitter on March 12th with tightness in his lower back. The Reds are sending him for an MRI to make sure it is a minor ailment.
“We’re going to send him for an MRI,” Francona confirmed. “Just to make sure, we’re not doing something he shouldn’t be doing. We’re asking him to catch, DH. Hopefully, we’ll have something later.”
Jacob Hurtubise survived the Rule V challenge posed by Cooper Bowman, who was returned to the A’s on March 12.
As of the end of the game March 12, Hurtubise is hitting .474.
“He’s hard not to like,” Francona said. “He’s going to give you everything he has, every minute of the day and with a smile on his face. We do some fun things in the meetings, where we recognize guys for things they do in the game. It is not always the big things like home runs but the little things. When we recognize him, guys go bananas.”
“He’s gotten a number of hits that have not been hard hits,” Francona explained. “Saying that, I don’t think you penalize a guy for that. One he’s putting the ball in play and two he runs like hell to first. He uses the whole field. Guys that use the whole field get more hits. That’s just the way it is.”
The glut at third base is being cleared.
Gavin Lux, Santiago Espinal and Jeimer Candelario are going to rotate through the position, Francona said in the morning meeting March 13.
“I think Lux and Candelario, you’ll see Espinal in there occasionally. It depends on who is pitching,” Francona said. “Lux is going to play leftfield again, I think Sunday (March 15). If we can do this it lengthens out our lineup without weakening our defense, that’s the idea.”
“I think Candelario, even in our workouts, is moving and doing things you need to do to play the position,” Francona said. “We’re not going to platoon there, we have other positions, the DH. We just want to do things that make sense on any given day.”
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