Reds Cull Big League Roster Julian Aguiar And Jose Franco To Louisville

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Dateline: Goodyear, Arizona

The innings get harder to find as starters get stretched out.

Andrew Abbott is slated to pitch three or four innings against the Giants today, (Friday March 6).

Julian Aguiar was one of the few Reds pitchers, who didn't walk a batter or give up a slew of runs, in Thursday's 14-13 walk off win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Franco started the game. He allowed a run on a hit but was done in by an ill advised defensive play by Elly De La Cruz.

The Reds optioned both pitchers to Triple A Louisville.

"We are really proud of him (Aguiar). He's been through a lot," Francona said. "We're at at the point in camp where some of these cuts get hard. We told him, 'you worked your ass off'. Now go get stretched out. I said go do your stuff. It's a long year. He even admitted that he has a lot of stuff, he has to work through. We told him just go pitch. I think his future is very bright."

Franco, 25, is in the same boat as Aguiar. Not quite ready but close.

"A lot stood out about Franco. Number one was poise," Francona said. "The guy pitched in Double A, a little bit in Triple A. His pitch mix is interesting because he's got plenty of fastball. He has a really good breaking ball. The change up looks like it's coming. We're going to keep him stretched out as a starter, We said, hey man, you're on the roster. You're knocking on the door. If you start, then you can be available for anything. So that's the idea of keeping him stretched out."

Shortstop Edwin Arroyo, who is playing for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic was also optioned along with outfielder, Hector Rodriguez.

"It was hard to see what we wanted to see from Arroyo because he got sick," Francona said. "We were trying to get him ready for the WBC, then he got real sick. I think the one thing that kind of showed me something more than anything. The day he was puking, he played. I'm sitting there bitching about his energy and he's in there puking. That really showed me. He didn't have to do that. Me and Freddy and Brad Meador called him. We didn't want him to read it. There are certain days you have to do things (make cuts). We will talk to him when he gets back."

Rodriguez was in a crowded outfield in which most of them are doing well this spring.

"The group there, like nine, eight of them are like trying to battle," Francona said. "We want to get a fair look at guys and because we knew he was going to start in the minor leagues was probably the biggest reason. He needs to play."

Infielder Leo Balcazar was optioned to Double A Chattanooga.

Non-roster right handed reliever, Darren McCaughan was reassigned to minor league camp.

The minor league camp will start it's schedule of games on Marc 12 to allow all of these players to continue to get at bats and innings. They will also appear in Cactus League games.