Friday, March 31, 2000
Reese gets scare
REDS NOTEBOOK
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[img]](http://reds.enquirer.com/img/photos/2000/03/033100reese_120x169.jpg)
Reese writhes in pain watched by manager Jack McKeon, left, and on-deck hitter Barry Larkin.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM | |
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Second baseman Pokey Reese escaped with just a mild bruise Thursday after being hit on the back of the left hand by a pitch from Toronto Blue Jays starter Frank Castillo.
Though Reese left the game immediately, trainer Greg Lynn said the bruise was so minor that X-rays were not necessary.
“It just grazed me,” said Reese, who felt upset at being hit for the second time this spring. “I never got this much before, ever.”
“I just took him out to get some ice on it,” manager Jack McKeon said. “He wanted to play.”
Now Reese has two sore hands. He sprained the ring finger on his right hand in the March 3 exhibition opener on a head-first slide into second base. He missed two weeks of games, resumed playing March 18, sat out Sunday's game when the soreness returned but has been active since then.
Reese also missed nine starts with a bone bruise in his left hand after Ismael Valdes hit him with a pitch July 26 at Los Angeles.
Leading off the game, Reese leaned away from Castillo's 1-2 fastball that darted high and inside, but he couldn't lean far enough. Lynn and McKeon immediately sprang from the dugout to tend to Reese and were quickly joined by Barry Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr., the next two hitters.
COUNTING BLESSINGS: McKeon wished the starting pitchers would have looked sharper in exhibition games, but he was happy that they emerged healthy from 61/2 weeks in Florida.
“That's a plus,” McKeon said. “If you interviewed every manager on every club, you'd get the same answer — everybody's hopeful that their starting pitchers can take them far into the season.”
McKeon said he used a five-man spring rotation to provide extra rest for Pete Harnisch and Denny Neagle, who spent the offseason rehabilitating shoulder injuries.
ODD MAN OUT: McKeon said that “chances are we won't” use No.5 starter Rob Bell the second time through the rotation.
Bell, a rookie summoned from the minors Wednesday after veteran right-hander Mark Portugal was released, probably will make his first start April 9 against Chicago. Though that's the Reds' sixth game, next Tuesday's off-day will allow Harnisch, the Opening Day starter, to get his usual four days' rest and pitch April8.
With another off-day scheduled for April13, Bell could be skipped to keep the other starters on their regular routines. Such is the fate of the fifth starter, who's susceptible to being skipped to keep everyone else in the rotation sharp.
CATCH THE BUS: The Reds and Metro will provide fans with express bus service to 30 games, including Monday's home opener.
Buses will provide round-trip transportation to Cinergy Field from four suburban park-and-ride locations. Fares are $4 round-trip and $2.50 one-way. Metro encourages passengers to bring exact change, because fare boxes do not provide change.
Buses will service routes 2 (Western Hills Plaza), 12 (Anderson Township), 13 (Fields Ertel) and 15 (Forest Park).
For more information, call 621-4455.
ETC.: The Toronto Blue Jays tried to make a deal with the Reds that would have allowed them to demote outfielder Dewayne Wise, whom they picked from the Reds' system in December's Rule 5 draft. But no agreement was reached, forcing the Jays to keep Wise on their Opening Day roster rather than offer him back to the Reds for $25,000.
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![[img]](http://reds.enquirer.com/img/photos/2000/03/033100reese.jpg)