Bailey good enough to start?

[OnBaseMachine]

Bailey good enough to start?

Reds notebook

BY JOHN FAY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

DUNEDIN, Fla. - When Reds manager Jerry Narron was asked if left- vs. right-handers would be a factor in choosing between Justin Germano and Michael Gosling, he kept his answer simple.

"It doesn't matter," Narron said. "It's going to be the guy who we think has the best chance to get people out."

That led to the next logical question: What if you determine Homer Bailey has a better chance to get people out than Germano or Gosling?

"That's a good question," Narron said.

Narron said that sometimes, from where he sits, Bailey looks like the best choice when it comes to getting people out. And the Reds very well could have an opening in the rotation if Paul Wilson isn't ready when the season starts.

But that does not mean Bailey will get the nod.

"Sometimes you have to do what's best for the long haul, not the short term," Narron said.

Bailey, 19, the Reds' No. 1 draft pick in 2004, has pitched well so far in spring training. His ERA (3.86) is better than Germano's (4.85) and Gosling's (5.68).

But the Reds won't rush Bailey.

"We think Homer can be a great pitcher," Narron said. "Part of that process includes time in the minor leagues. Homer understands that."

Narron said Bailey has to work on putting hitters away. His stuff is so good that hitters tend to foul off a lot of pitches, which runs up Bailey's pitch count.

Bailey is pitching today in one of the split-squad games. The Reds want Bailey to get as many innings as possible.

"I'm very impressed (so far)," Narron said. "He doesn't look like a 19-year-old out there. He's very composed."

GRIFFEY ON WAY: With the United States eliminated from the World Baseball Classic, Ken Griffey Jr. will return to the Reds shortly.

Narron did not know exactly when. He doesn't expect Griffey to join the club today in Orlando, Fla.

"I don't know what the rules are," Narron said. "What did he get, 20 at-bats (in the WBC)? He's probably more ready than anyone we've got."

Griffey went 11-for-21 with three home runs and 10 RBI in the Classic.

Javier Valentin, who played for the Puerto Rican team, returned to the Ed Smith Complex Friday.

He'll play today against Pittsburgh.

MILTON UPDATE: Left-hander Eric Milton pitched six innings in a simulated game Friday. He allowed one run on five hits, walked none and struck out two.

Milton is coming back from a strained calf.

"He fielded a couple of bunts," general manager Wayne Krivsky said. "He had no problems."

The Reds will wait to see how Milton feels today before deciding when he can pitch in a game.

GREAT DANE: Valentin's return will mean a severe reduction in Dane Sardinha's playing time.

Sardinha has impressed Narron.

"I was very impressed with the way he received the baseball," Narron said. "He's a good catcher. He gets rid of the ball quick. The more I saw of him, the more I liked him."

Defense has never been a problem for Sardinha, the team's second-round pick in 2000.

And his offense?

"He hit some balls hard," Narron said.

Sardinha is hitting .250 for the spring after going 1-for-3 with two RBI Friday.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...603180361/1071

[OnBaseMachine]

Young pitchers battle for Reds' rotation spot
Germano sharp vs. Toronto; Gosling gets turn today
By Hal McCoy

Dayton Daily News

DUNEDIN, Fla. | The spectre of Paul Wilson not being ready to perform when the season opens leaves a line of question marks strung out across the Cincinnati Reds starting rotation.

While Wilson works diligently daily to strengthen his surgically repaired shoulder, there remains the main question: What if?

As of now, 17 days away from Opening Day, the alternatives are lefthanded Mike Gosling or righthanded Justin Germano.

Gosling and Germano both have limited major-league experience, but if Gosling is the guy it places four lefthanders in the rotation — Brandon Claussen, Eric Milton, Dave Williams and Gosling.

If that's a problem, manager Jerry Narron is acknowledging it and all but says if a guy can dropkick the ball over the plate and retire major-league hitters, so be it.

"It doesn't matter to me," said Narron. "We'll take the guy who gets the most people out and can do the job. We're just looking for people to get hitters out and give us a chance to win."

Germano, 23, started Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays and was good, even better than Roy Halladay, who this week signed a $40 million three-year contract extension

Germano, hoping for a big-league contract at minimum wage, held the B-Jays to one run on six hits over four innings, walking none and striking out two, in a 9-2 win. The run was a home run by Eric Hinske, who homers against the best.

"That was my fault," said Germano. "I left a fastball over the plate and you can't do that to a hitter like him. I was happy with today, even though I'm still searching for command of my off-speed stuff.

"A chance to win a spot in the rotation is definitely in the back of my mind, but I don't want to add pressure and think if I don't pitch will I won't make the team."

Germano was acquired last July 23 from San Diego in the Joe Randa trade and was 3-2 with a 4.01 ERA in eight starts at Class AAA Louisville after he was 7-6 with a 3.70 ERA for Class AAA Portland before the trade.

His major-league experience is five starts and two relief appearances for the 2004 Padres — 1-2, 8.86 ERA in 21 1/3 innings.

Gosling, 25, starts today in Bradenton against the Pittsburgh Pirates and so far this spring he is 1-0 with a 5.68 ERA over three appearances covering 6 1/3 innings. His major-league experience is 19 games, nine starts, for Arizona and he is 1-4 with a 4.53 ERA.

With the hunt for pitchers who can get hitters out, a question arose: How about Homer Bailey. He is only 19, but the team's No. 1 draft pick in 2004 has pitched this spring with the style and grace of a 29-year-old veteran.

And it hasn't escaped Narron's eye.

"It would be interesting to see what he would do with 34 major-league starts this year," said Narron. "But sometimes what is good for the long haul is better than for the short haul.

"One of the things I like about Homer is that he doesn't want to be in the big leagues now, he wants to be a great major-league pitcher later," Narron added. "He understands the process of pitching in the minor leagues to learn and get better."

While Narron sees greatness ahead in the 6-4, 205-pound righthander who was 8-4 with a 4.43 ERA in 21 starts and seven relief appearances last year for the Class A Dayton Dragons, he sees a learning curve, too.

"He has to learn to get ahead in the count and put guys away early," Narron said. "He throws a lot pitches because his stuff is so good batters can't square the ball on the bat and they foul off a lot of pitches.

"We want to give him the chance to be great, so we'll keep pitching him and do what's best for him," he added.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...18redsweb.html

[redsmetz]

I think the current plan for Bailey is a good one - start him at Sarasota where the weather's warm and then move him up to AA when summer arrives. I don't believe we're going to make the play-offs this year. Let's bring him along.

Frankly, I'd like to see Ryan Wagner have a full year in the minors. We rushed him and I think he's been struggling to stay at that level. Give him the time he should have had. Some may disagree with that, but I'd like to slow him down a bit and give him the chance for greater success at the level he should be at.

[jmcclain19]

Germano, hoping for a big-league contract at minimum wage, held the B-Jays to one run on six hits over four innings, walking none and striking out two, in a 9-2 win. The run was a home run by Eric Hinske, who homers against the best.

Sheesh Hal - have enough sappy self created mellowdrama in there?

[StillFunkyB]

No need to rush HB.

I really hope the Reds FO feels the same way.

[Heath]

He's not Felix Rodriguez. Let the kid play in the Minors.

Spring training does two things -

One - 6 weeks does not make a career.
Two - The hope of spring will turn into the rising tempatures of summer. Henceforth, as summer approaches, your ERA will also rise.

[KoryMac5]

Let Bailey start the season in double A and call him up in Sept as a nice reward if he's made progress. Having Bailey start with the big club does nothing but rush him and put his arm under alot of stress something we as fans don't want to see.

[Falls City Beer]

Bullpen?

[traderumor]

I hope all the talk about Bailey from the Reds is just hype. He still should not even be considered for 2-3 more years, and that assuming he starts to dominate somewhere. To date, he has accomplished nothing.

[dougdirt]

traderumor, to say he has accomplished nothing would be incorrect. I am sure he is a much better pitcher right now than he was a year ago. He had a good year in Dayton last year. He struck out 125 in 103 and gave up just 89 hits in 103 innings. He walked a lot of guys, and he needs to work on that. If he can cut down on the walks and maintain the same success everywhere else, watch out.

[traderumor]

traderumor, to say he has accomplished nothing would be incorrect. I am sure he is a much better pitcher right now than he was a year ago. He had a good year in Dayton last year. He struck out 125 in 103 and gave up just 89 hits in 103 innings. He walked a lot of guys, and he needs to work on that. If he can cut down on the walks and maintain the same success everywhere else, watch out.

There is no way you can be sure of such a thing because you have no evidence to support the contention. Until his performance provides evidence that such is the case, his performance to date has been substandard for a high #1 pick. It is a nice hypothetical thought, but the evidence of the Reds picking the right guy is suspect, and even moreso the idea of a pitcher being developed in the Reds system is an oxymoron. Guys do not improve in the Cincy system, they get worse. And so far, Homer's performance is consistent with the Reds' draft and development of pitchers' track record. The only qualification I'll make is an accomplishment that M2 pointed out recently--he seems to be healthy.

[dougdirt]

There is no way you can be sure of such a thing because you have no evidence to support the contention. Until his performance provides evidence that such is the case, his performance to date has been substandard for a high #1 pick. It is a nice hypothetical thought, but the evidence of the Reds picking the right guy is suspect, and even moreso the idea of a pitcher being developed in the Reds system is an oxymoron. Guys do not improve in the Cincy system, they get worse. And so far, Homer's performance is consistent with the Reds' draft and development of pitchers' track record. The only qualification I'll make is an accomplishment that M2 pointed out recently--he seems to be healthy.

Of course there is no way of knowing. Even if he had good numbers there would be no way of knowing. As for what has happened in the past having anything to do with Homer Bailey, I still dont buy into it. Homer Bailey is his own pitcher. I will go with todays outting for the Reds as a little example that he is better. 2 2/3 ip, 5 strike outs, no earned runs. Plenty of guys improve in the Reds system, most of them just arent pitchers. As far as Bailey being consistant with Reds other drafted pitchers, well he gives up few hits, hardly any home runs, strikes out a ton and gives up more walks than he should. I dont think Bailey fits anywhere along the lines of Reds past pitchers. As for todays game, it seems the Pirates are killing the ball against everyone except for Homer Bailey.

[pedro]

Of course there is no way of knowing. Even if he had good numbers there would be no way of knowing. As for what has happened in the past having anything to do with Homer Bailey, I still dont buy into it. Homer Bailey is his own pitcher. I will go with todays outting for the Reds as a little example that he is better. 2 2/3 ip, 5 strike outs, no earned runs. Plenty of guys improve in the Reds system, most of them just arent pitchers. As far as Bailey being consistant with Reds other drafted pitchers, well he gives up few hits, hardly any home runs, strikes out a ton and gives up more walks than he should. I dont think Bailey fits anywhere along the lines of Reds past pitchers. As for todays game, it seems the Pirates are killing the ball against everyone except for Homer Bailey.

If Bailey is so great, send him to the minors and let him dominate which he hasn't been able to do yet. I see no point in wasting an arb year on a pitcher who hasn't even had sustained success in the minors yet.

[dougdirt]

If Bailey is so great, send him to the minors and let him dominate which he hasn't been able to do yet. I see no point in wasting an arb year on a pitcher who hasn't even had sustained success in the minors yet.

Pedro, I think you misunderstood me. No way on Gods green earth is Homer Bailey stepping onto the mound of GABP anytime this year if its my choice.

[traderumor]

Of course there is no way of knowing. Even if he had good numbers there would be no way of knowing. As for what has happened in the past having anything to do with Homer Bailey, I still dont buy into it. Homer Bailey is his own pitcher. I will go with todays outting for the Reds as a little example that he is better. 2 2/3 ip, 5 strike outs, no earned runs. Plenty of guys improve in the Reds system, most of them just arent pitchers. As far as Bailey being consistant with Reds other drafted pitchers, well he gives up few hits, hardly any home runs, strikes out a ton and gives up more walks than he should. I dont think Bailey fits anywhere along the lines of Reds past pitchers. As for todays game, it seems the Pirates are killing the ball against everyone except for Homer Bailey.

Of course there's a way of knowing. It's called performance. It's called putting up a 2 something ERA in the lower level minors. It's called having a WHIP around or less than 1 and a K rate over 9, which is the one thing he has going for him thus far. If one wants to project him as a future #1, that is what he should have done at Dayton last year.

As far as "Homer Bailey is his own pitcher." Are you serious? An 18 year-old comes into a system and is his own pitcher? He is green and needs solid, developmental coaching, which the Reds have flunked that test time and time again. He fits exactly along the lines of failed high school arms that are part and parcel of the Reds pitching woes, which is why you treat him with kid gloves and hopefully some of the folks in the organization who were a part of the problem are gone. But to say he is somehow unique, I'm not seeing it based on a 4.43 ERA and 1.46 WHIP at low A.

This is a big year for him to establish himself, but so far, a bunch of partisan coaches bragging him up does not tell us a thing.