Monday, April 05, 1999
REDS NOTEBOOK
Neagle may be only 2 outings from return
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Denny Neagle could be ready to rejoin the Reds' active roster after just two more tuneup outings.
Coming off his 55-pitch, six-inning shutout effort against his Reds teammates in Saturday's intrasquad game with Triple-A Indianapolis at Sarasota, Fla., Neagle is expected to start again Thursday, either at Triple-A Indianapolis against Toledo or for Double-A Chattanooga at Greenville, S.C.
If Neagle started once more after that — probably on April 13 — and was pronounced fit, he'd make it back almost as early as possible. The left-hander, who was put on the 15-day disabled list on March 24 with a weakened shoulder, is eligible to be activated Saturday.
“Everything's coming together,” Neagle said. “The strength's coming, my mechanics are coming together and my location's coming back.”
Neagle wants to be able to throw 90-100 pitches by the time he's activated and hopes to do that in his second rehabilitation start.
“I want to get to the point where I feel like I can throw six or seven innings comfortably,” he said.
Pitching coach Don Gullett admitted that many hitters were swinging early in the count, eager to board the charter flight home. But, Gullett added, “He threw a lot of strikes. His command and velocity were much better.”
Said Eddie Taubensee, Neagle's catcher, “He pretty much was able to throw the ball where he wanted.”
“He had good bite on his curveball and good downward movement on his changeup,” said Aaron Boone, who went 0-for-2 against Neagle. “I think everybody should be encouraged.”
Neagle, who won 52 games in the last three years, was especially pleased with the crispness of his breaking pitches.
“That's what I judge myself on, more so than throwing 88 mph compared to 84 or 85,” he said.
Simple slugger
Greg Vaughn said that his success against right-hander Mark Gardner, today's starting pitcher for San Francisco, can be easily explained.
“See ball, hit ball,” Vaughn said. “I just see it and swing at it. I don't care who's out there.”
Vaughn has five hits — all home runs — in 13 career at-bats against Gardner. That computes to a slugging percentage of 1.538.
Short hops
The Reds said that “several hundred” standing room tickets remain available for today's game. Cinergy Field's ticket booths open at 9 a.m.
• Hal Morris, his familiar No. 23 taken by Vaughn, has switched to No.9.
• Right-hander Stan Belinda, who's on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis, still hasn't thrown off a mound and doesn't know when he'll try. But the reliever isn't concerned, because he has endured this injury every year since 1995.
“We're just being a little cautious with it,” said Belinda, who's eligible to leave the disabled list April 10. “They want me to let it calm down.”
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