Wednesday, March 17, 1999
Reds' question: How many pitchers
Early schedule light, but Reds may need arms
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Reds aren't sure whether they'll open the season with 10 or 11 pitchers, mainly because they must resolve 10 or 11 different issues first.
That's only a slight exaggeration. The pitching staff's size, a question each team must approach every spring, will hinge on several factors. Whether 10, 11 or more pitchers deserve to make the team is only part of the equation. The composition of Cincinnati's bench also will influence pitching-related decisions.
“We're three weeks away (from Opening Day), and a lot can happen,” Reds General Manager Jim Bowden said. “I think we have to play it out. It's too early to make that judgment. Baseball-wise, I've always been a believer in 11 pitchers. That doesn't mean we wouldn't go with 10 or 12, depending on what may give our club the best chance to win.”
Why is this important?
“What's the name of the game?” asked Reds manager Jack McKeon, who learned the answer a long time ago. “Pitching.”
As the Reds shape their staff for the regular season, they must address:
• The schedule. Cincinnati has an off-day in each of the first 10 weeks, sharply reducing
the need for a five-man starting rotation and indicating a 10-man staff could be enough.
McKeon said before Tuesday's 14-8 loss to the Detroit Tigers that the Reds won't regularly use a fifth starter until late May. The No.5 man won't make his first start until April 24; his next will come May 4.
Referring to a stretch in May when the Reds have three off-days in eight days, McKeon joked, “We can go with a three-man rotation for a while.”
Rainouts, a common early-season occurrence, would limit pitching opportunities further for the fifth starter.
• Denny Neagle. If the left-hander has strengthened his throwing shoulder enough to pitch six innings or more by the start of the season, the Reds shouldn't have to tax their bullpen, which also suggests they can survive with 10 pitchers.
But if Neagle is limited in early April, he could be the 11th pitcher, gradually building up his arm by working on the side, during batting practice or lopsided games, or in occasional starts.
“A lot depends on whether he's ready,” Bowden said.
• Bench size. If the Reds decide to accommodate Hal Morris and Mark Sweeney (two left-handed-hitting first basemen), or if outfielders Jeffrey Hammonds or Jon Nunnally somehow stick around, the bench would get a lot longer — meaning fewer spots for pitch ers.
The Reds' brain trust must decide whether an 11th pitcher is more valuable than another spare position player.
“Ideally, you like to have 11 pitchers or even 12, because pitching is what separates you these days,” Bowden said. “But we also don't want to lose our bench depth that we've worked hard to get.”
• Trades. This element is closely related to the previous one. Trading a reserve position player would ease the roster crunch and could expand the pitching staff.
The Reds can form as big a pitching staff as they want regardless of whether they make a deal. But the Reds would prefer to get something in return for players on the bubble who cannot be optioned to the minors, such as Nunnally or catcher Brook Fordyce. They'll almost surely be lost through waivers if the Reds can't trade them and they don't make the team.
• Dennys Reyes. The left-hander suffered a setback in his trial as a reliever, yielding two runs and three hits to the Tigers. But he clearly has impressed McKeon, who may want him to open the season as the bullpen's second left-hander behind Gabe White.
That could mean either a 10- or 11-man staff, depending on whether Reyes is viewed as a potential fifth starter. As Bowden said, all this has to be played out.
Reds Stories
