Thursday, May 13, 1999
REDS NOTEBOOK
Young's 1st homer can't stop rotation
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Instead of returning Dmitri Young to right field one night after he hit his first homer of the season, manager Jack McKeon opted to start Jeffrey Hammonds instead.
McKeon hinted that he'll continue to rotate his right fielders: “I guess I just have to juggle those guys until somebody takes off.”
Young, batting .206, had shown signs of regaining his stroke. But McKeon deemed it necessary to rejuvenate Hammonds, who began the game hitting .118, including .043 (1-for-23) in his previous seven starts.
“You have to give him some at-bats,” McKeon said of Hammonds. “I'd like to keep Dmitri in. I'd like to keep Tucker in there, too. That's the tough part.”
Parris returns
Steve Parris wasn't expecting to rejoin the starting rotation so soon.
Parris has replaced Jason Bere as Saturday's starting pitcher against the San Diego Padres. Bere likely will pitch again Tuesday in Colorado, the next time the Reds need a fifth starter.
“I was just biding my time until then,” said Parris, who was skipped for one turn through the rotation when the Reds' plethora of scheduled off-days enabled them to use a four-man starting staff temporarily. “When they told me (he'd pitch Saturday), I was a little bit surprised.”
Parris will be starting on 11 days of rest, which would make the best pitcher rusty. But he pointed out that he went 10-to-12 days without pitching before making his first start this season for Triple-A Indianapolis when a sore back bothered him.
Finger food
To help heal the blister that limited him to five innings Tuesday night, Steve Avery kept his left middle finger dipped into an unidentifiable muddy substance in a tiny plastic cup.
“Some witches' potion, I guess,” Avery said. “It's supposed to dry (the blister) out and harden it up. It doesn't look better, but it's not worse.”
Avery, who said he frequently developed blisters earlier in his career, said they usually healed in three to four days and never caused him to miss a start.
Belinda's progress
Reliever Stan Belinda was upbeat after throwing 40 pitches in “live” batting practice to Chris Stynes and Eddie Taubensee.
“I think it's coming along well this time,” said Belinda, who has recovered unsteadily from tendinitis in his shoulder. “I'm starting to loosen up and get my strength back. It's almost like I'm going through another spring training.”
Belinda said he'll probably throw in the bullpen Friday, perhaps with a hitter standing in the batter's box.
Casey call
When Sean Casey heard that a college player had suffered an eye injury similar to his own, he picked up the phone.
The Reds first baseman tried to encourage Evansville's Anthony Molina, who was hit in the left eye by a warmup pitch as he stood near the batter's box at the start of a game against Wichita State on April 23.
“A lot of the feelings I had last year came back when I was talking to him,” Casey said Wednesday. “I felt like I was talking to myself. It sounded like exactly what I had.”
Casey was hit in the right eye by a throw from a teammate during pregame practice on April 2 last year. He temporarily lost vision in the eye and had to have a plate installed to stabilize fractures around the eye.
He read about Molina's accident in a baseball publication. “I told him I'd keep him in my prayers,” Casey said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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