Tuesday, June 25, 2002
Boone grants Pineda's wish, makes him starter vs. Cubs
Reds notebook
By John Fay, jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CHICAGO — Welcome back to the majors, Luis, and here's the ball.
Luis Pineda, freshly promoted from Triple-A Louisville, will make his first major league start today when the Reds play the Chicago Cubs.
By starting Pineda, the Reds can use left-hander Bruce Chen in the bullpen while injured lefty Gabe White is out. It also allows the Reds to move Joey Hamilton's start from today to Thursday. Hamilton left the team last week to attend the funeral of his wife's grandfather.
“He was away from it for a few days,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “This allows us to back him off.”
Pineda, a 27-year-old right-hander, made three starts at Louisville. He's all for the move.
“This is what I want to do,” he said.
Pineda made 31 starts in 103 minor league appearances. He was 6-2 with a 3.05 ERA last year at Double-A Erie, where he was primarily a starter. Twelve of his 16 appearances were as a starter.
Pineda threw 80 pitches in his last outing at Louisville. He could go up to 90 today.
Pineda was 0-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 24 relief appearances before being sent to Louisville. He used his fastball and curveball as a reliever, but can also throw a change-up and slider.
Being in the bullpen will allow Chen to work on his mechanics.
“It's going to take some time,” Boone said. “We want it to come naturally to him, so he doesn't have to think about it.”
The plan is to start Chen in one of three games this weekend in St.Louis. The Cardinals have a heavily left-handed lineup.
“They don't hit left-handers as well,” Boone said.
The Reds won't know until Thursday if White is able to pitch this weekend. That's when he gets the stitches out of his hand.
KILE FACTOR: St.Louis pitcher Darryl Kile's tragic death last week will probably have teams reviewing their preseason physicals. Reds medical director Tim Kremchek says the one his team has in place is sufficient.
“We have a cardiologist look at all our guys during spring training,” Kremchek said. “If they have any history or family history, we'll do an EKG. We've been doing that for five years.”
The Reds have never had to keep a player from playing because of heart problems, but several have gone through additional exams.
A death like Kile's is hard to prevent.
“The only thing he had was his father died early,” Kremchek said. “It was one of those silent killer things.”
NO JUNIOR: Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. was out of the lineup Monday after aggravating his strained hamstring running out a double Sunday.
“It's still sore,” Reds trainer Greg Lynn said. “He's getting treatment.”
Griffey is listed as day-to-day.
“The only barometer we have is how Junior feels,” Kremchek said. “It was a little sorer (Monday). The question is always: "How long?'We don't know.”
SWITCHAROO: Fans watching batting practice Monday at Wrigley Field might have been surprised by the power they saw from “Jose Rijo” and “Juan Castro.” It seems that Reds outfielder Adam Dunn was wearing Rijo's batting practice jersey and shortstop Barry Larkin was wearing Castro's.
BOHANON RETIRES: Veteran left-hander Brian Bohanon, who was trying to revive his career at Triple-A Louisville, has retired. Bohanon, 33, was 3-0 with a 4.87 ERA for the Bats. He started seven games, but lately the Reds were trying to make him into a reliever.
Bohanon had elbow surgery early in spring training.
UP NEXT: The Reds play the Cubs at 2:20 p.m. today in the second game of a four-game series. Pineda will face Chicago right-hander Matt Clement (5-4, 3.53 ERA).
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Boone grants Pineda's wish, makes him starter vs. Cubs
