Wednesday, April 14, 1999
'Impressive' Neagle coming up
He'll make Reds' debut Sunday after solid rehab finale
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS — The last pitch thrown by left-hander Denny Neagle landed not in catcher Jason LaRue's mitt but in the mitts of a fan about 400 feet away in right centerfield. It might have spoiled Neagle's numbers but not his night.
“It was an impressive outing, despite the line score,” said Reds General Manager Jim Bowden, who watched Neagle's final rehab outing for the Indianapolis Indians against Columbus on Tuesday at Victory Field. “He never lost his stuff, and that's what you look for.”
With the gametime temperature at 57 degrees, not the kind of weather conducive to a pitcher recovering from arm trouble, Neagle went 5ö innings, giving up six hits, four runs and only one walk. He struck out five. Of his 96 pitches, 55 were strikes.
A 16-game winner for Atlanta in 1998 acquired in an offseason trade, Neagle had his Reds debut delayed when he went on the disabled list during spring training because of weakness in his left shoulder and a strained quad riceps muscle.
The Reds plan for him to start Sunday when they play Pittsburgh at Cinergy Field, and Neagle is eager to fulfill that assignment. Bowden knows how he will clear a roster spot, but he will not announce his decision until after Saturday's game or before Sunday's.
“Physically, it's getting better and better,” Neagle said. “I felt like I was able to maintain control and velocity. I still felt like I had pretty good stuff on the ball at the end. That's a good sign for me.”
Neagle lost his chance to go 2-0 for the Indians when Columbus center fielder Tony Tarasco smacked a 3-1 pitch for a three-run homer that tied the game in the sixth and helped Columbus claim an 8-6 victory.
This was Neagle's 96th pitch, a half-dozen more than he was scheduled to throw. He rolled past his pitch limit when he gave up three consecutive singles — two of which Bowden figures would have been outs with the Reds playing defense — after retiring the first two batters of the inning.
“The thing I look for is how many he throws in the middle of the zone, the kind of pitches that might not get hit here but a major-leaguer would,” Bowden said. “Of his 96 pitches, only two were in the zone, and Tarasco hit them both.”
When he takes the mound for Sunday's game, Neagle will place himself one start ahead of schedule in his recovery. The Reds originally planned for an April 24 return, but he has been effective in each of three full outings.
He threw 55 pitches without giving up a run in an intrasquad game on the final day of spring training, then opened the Indianapolis season by carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning and earning his first Triple-A victory since 1991.
Through the first five batters Tuesday, Neagle appeared to have trouble powering through his fastball. Nearly every one he delivered flew outside and high, with a few catching the corner. “When he missed, he missed where he was supposed to miss,” Bowden said.
In fanning third baseman Mike Coolbaugh for his second strikeout, Neagle relocated the pop he'll need to defeat big-league hitters. His best fastballs were clocked between 84 and 89 mph, and Bowden said he still was in that range as he pitched his last inning. Although he labored to get through his last few innings in last week's appearance, he was smoother this time.
Bowden and Neagle both wanted him to pitch the sixth despite being near his 90 pitches, and Neagle wanted to try to pitch out of the jam created by the three base hits.
He tried to challenge Tarasco with his best fastball. “I pretty much said, "Here it is,'” Neagle said. “I needed to see where I was with my fastball.”
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