PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Jose Rijo knew when he couldn't get loose that Thursday was going to be a tough day. When you don't have your best stuff and the Nos.2, 3, 4 and 5 hitters are Ivan Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro, the mound is a very scary place to be.

        In 1993, Rijo would have thrown fastballs, taken his beating and moved on.

        But this is 2002, and Rijo isn't just trying to get into shape; he's trying to make the club.

        “I had to throw my slider,” he said. “It's not fair. But it's the way it is.”

        Rijo went to the slider. After giving up back-to-back bolts for a triple and a double, Rijo settled down and allowed only one more hit. He left the game down 2-0 but satisfied. (The game was rained out with the Reds down 2-1 in the fifth.)

        “It's feeling better and better,” he said. “I couldn't locate in the first inning.”

        The Reds are preparing Rijo as a starter and promise to give him a good look.

        “He's been a starter,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “That's what he wants to do.”

        Boone said the competition for the starting rotation is down to eight or nine players. That would be Rijo, Elmer Dessens, Jose Acevedo, Chris Reitsma, Lance Davis, Jimmy Haynes, Joey Hamilton and Luke Hudson. Seth Etherton will be considered if he's healthy. Brian Bohanon is out of the running because he's not healthy.

        Rijo, the 36-year-old medical phenom, says starting or relieving is fine with him.

        “I don't care what the situation is,” he said. “I just want to pitch. I'm not in it for the money. I'm in it for love of the game. I want to help this team. I'll start, relieve. I'll be the bat boy.”

        Rijo came back last year after not pitching pitching in the big league leagues for six years. The Reds used him in relief but had to bring him along slowly, not pitching him on back-to-back days.

        “Maybe starting would be better for me,” he said. “I can pitch every five days, do my stretching and work in between.”

        Rijo, before the five surgeries, was a pretty fair starter. He was 92-57 with a 2.70 ERA in his previous life as a Red. That's when spring training was just a time for him to get ready.

        “They say spring training doesn't count,” Rijo said. “It sure does when you're trying to make the team.”

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