Sunday, March 21, 1999Bullpen battle tightens
Williamson, Reyes pitch into picture
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati EnquirerPORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Having spent their professional lives facing tense situations, the Reds' relievers should be suited to the drama that's currently unfolding.
Rookie Scott Williamson and near-rookie Dennys Reyes have pitched themselves into contention for jobs in Cincinnati's bullpen. No longer can veteran righthanders Stan Belinda, John Hudek and Scott Sullivan assume that they'll be the setup men for co-closers Danny Graves and Gabe White.
“If I were a reliever on this team, I wouldn't feel comfortable right now,” General Manager Jim Bowden said Saturday before the Reds lost to the Texas Rangers, 5-4, in an exhibition game at Charlotte County Stadium. “I think the competition has become a lot more than people think. It's wide open. Not many of them have sure jobs. And we have open minds.”
Despite pitching exclusively as a starter since the Reds selected him in the ninth round of the 1997 draft, Williamson has quickly shown an aptitude for the bullpen, with his flinty confidence and his 95-mph fastball.
Similarly, Reyes began spring training as a longshot to make the starting rotation. But the lack of qualified lefties in Cincinnati's bullpen, where White is the only southpaw, has helped improve his chances of making the Opening Day roster.
Both enhanced their rising status on Thursday and Friday, pitching shutout innings on each night.
“Just because (Williamson) has pitched only a year and a half and because Reyes is 21 years old — if that's going to give us the best team we can have, I'm not opposed to them making the team at all,” Bowden said. “(Manager) Jack (McKeon) and (pitching coach) Don Gullett and I have a lot of work to do in the next 10 days.”
The braintrust's decision will stem partly from their determination of the staff's size. McKeon reiterated that he's likely to bring a 10-man pitching contingent to Cincinnati. The smaller the staff, the tighter the competition. Additionally, Steve Parris, Reyes and Williamson are the only remaining pitchers seriously contending for jobs who have minor-league options remaining, so stashing any of them at Triple-A Indianapolis would be the simplest way to trim the staff.
Williamson's lack of experience makes him a risk. There's sentiment to groom him as a closer at Indianapolis. The non- roster invitee has pitched only 13 games in rookie ball, 18 games in Double-A and five at Triple-A.
But McKeon has grown steadily more impressed with Williamson, who's 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in seven Grapefruit League appearances. The righthander also has 10 strikeouts in nine innings.
McKeon was asked whether Williamson would be better off gaining experience in Triple-A or learning on the job with carefully chosen appearances in the majors.
“My personal opinion? I think I can develop him best up here,” McKeon said after pausing briefly for thought. “Even though he's going to put up good numbers (at Indianapolis). Do you let him dominate and see if he can strike everybody out down there? He's not going to do that up here. But can we make him the type of pitcher we want? Under Gully's tutelage, I think we can bring him to that point. By midesason I think he might be a heck of a pitcher. Maybe before then.”
The normally low-keyed Gullett spoke admiringly of Williamson's skill: “He has a lot of potential, that kid does.”
Reyes' spring statistics (0-1, 6.52 ERA) belie his proficiency. Recently, he has been especially effective against lefthanded batters, who he would face regularly as a reliever.
Thursday against the New York Yankees, Reyes opened the seventh inning by striking out lefthanded Paul O'Neill and switch-hitter Bernie Williams. Friday against Boston, he fanned lefthanded Troy O'Leary and retired Brian Daubach, another lefthander, who hit a three-run homer earlier.
“There's no question he's made tremendous improvement,” McKeon said of Reyes, who has 10 strikeouts in 9ö innings. “For the role he has been used in, he's done a heck of a job, handling lefthanders pretty well.”
Gullett was pleasantly surprised when Reyes asked him late Friday night if he could make a third consecutive appearance Saturday.
“That says a lot about him,” Gullett said. “He's hungry. He wants a job.”
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