Jason LaRue works out in Sarasota Tuesday. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        SARASOTA, Fla. — This is the kind of catcher Jason LaRue is:

        Last Aug.12, Reds right-hander Scott Williamson was nursing a 2-0 lead at Chicago's Wrigley Field when he hung a slider to Ricky Gutierrez with one out in the fifth inning. Gutierrez lined out to second base, prompting Williamson to express silent thanks that the ball wasn't hit harder or farther.

        Williamson's relief quickly evaporated.

        “By the time I turned around, Jason was in my face,” Williamson recalled Tuesday. “"Hey, man, you've gotta bear down!' It fired me back up. I think that helps a pitcher, especially a young pitcher like me.”

        If LaRue can be that assertive while playing sparingly, as he has done for the last two seasons, imagine how much of a leader he might be this season, now that he's expected to become Cincinnati's No.1 catcher.

LaRue

        “The way he approaches a game is awesome,” said Williamson, who rose through the minors with LaRue. “He hasn't changed a bit since Double-A. He's really fiery. He loves the game.”

        “To me, this is going to be his time,” manager Bob Boone said. “We've kind of built the club that way. Trading Eddie (Taubensee) kind of lets him know this isn't a platoon thing. You're going to be the guy and you have to step up.”

        LaRue, who turns 27 on March 19, is eager to seize his opportunity.

        “I'm going to go about my business the way I've always done — give it 110 percent every single day,” he said. “If I keep doing that, everything's going to work out in the end.”

        LaRue's tireless attitude should help him fend off challenges from veterans Kelly Stinnett, who signed last month as a free agent, and non-roster invitee Matt Walbeck.

        More important, LaRue's diligence should hasten his development. Anointed long ago as the Reds' catcher of the future, LaRue played in 36 games with Cincinnati in 1999 and 31 last year, as Taubensee's presence prevented him from entrenching himself in the major leagues. LaRue has hit .223 while playing sporadically with the Reds, contrasting with his .292 career minor-league average. Playing more regularly should help him improve offensively.

        “I think I've seen flashes of brilliance and flashes of the other end of it,” Boone said of LaRue. “But I know the tools are there. He has a very strong throwing arm. At some point I would love to see us saying, "Jason shuts down the running game; we don't have to worry about that.' I can't say that right now. But I think he's certainly capable of it.”

        LaRue already has displayed a knack for working well with pitchers. The Reds' ERA with him behind the plate was 3.81 in 1999 and 3.78 last year, compared to 3.98 and 4.33 overall, respectively.

        Cincinnati's fifth-round draft choice in 1995, LaRue attributed part of his success with pitchers to the time he spends with them off the field.

        “Every single year, whether it's been in the minor leagues or the past two years in the big leagues, I try to hang out a little bit with the pitchers and listen to their conversations,” LaRue said. “They can give you a little inside information about a hitter, something he doesn't like to do, pitches he doesn't like to hit. That's a way you can beat a hitter that day.”

        That's similar to the approach Boone maintained during his 19 years as a major-league catcher. Boone has said he tried to build “relationships” with pitchers. With Boone as his manager, LaRue said he is looking forward to learning more of catching's subtleties.

        “Obviously you have to be one of the best catchers ever, to stay in the game that long,” LaRue said of Boone's 19-year playing career. “He's going to be a guy I can turn to at any point in time during the season if I have a question, especially about calling a game. ... I think it'll be really easy to go in and say, "Hey Bob, can you help me with this?' I feel really comfortable being able to do that with him.”

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