"I love the Reds organization, from top to bottom," Latos said. "Yes, it was nice to get a little bit of a breather, but at the same time, if it wouldn't have gotten done, it wouldn't have gotten done. I still would have come here without any resentment toward the front office."
During the offseason, Latos set a goal of improving the one pitch that he felt wasn't up to par in his repertoire -- the changeup. This spring, he sought out the organization's changeup guru, special assistant to the general manager and former Reds ace Mario Soto.
In the past with the Padres, Latos worked on the pitch with Trevor Hoffman, the former closer who had a legendary changeup, but Latos feels the improvement has gone to another level under Soto's tutelage.
"I think the changeup is going to be a really good pitch for me, especially at Great American Ball Park," Latos said. "[Soto] opens the door and sheds light on things that I didn't really understand, and I now understand. I'm able to throw it for strikes. I'm able to throw it behind in the count. I'm able to throw it first pitch or deep in the count."