By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Reds' first official workout isn't until Saturday, but some players were getting a jump on things Wednesday. Aaron Boone, Brandon Larson, Austin Kearns and Russell Branyan were at the Ed Smith Stadium complex for informal workouts.

Cincinnati's spring training officially opens today when pitchers and catchers report. Friday, the players will be given physicals.

The first workout is at 9a.m. Saturday, and position players report Tuesday. The first full-squad workout is at 9a.m. Wednesday.

This is Bob Boone's third camp as the Reds' manager. It will be much like the previous two.

"Every year is a bit different," Boone said. "But every year, you're trying to do essentially the same thing. You want to get the hitters ready to hit and the pitchers ready to pitch. We'll change some things, but not too much."

The Reds' camp will be a crowded one with 64 players. Of 24 non-roster players in camp, 14 are pitchers, giving the Reds a total of 33.

In addition, the Reds are bringing 55 top minor-leaguers for the Minor League Accelerated Program. Pitchers in the program report Wednesday, and position players report Saturday, Feb.22.

The minor-league players will work out in the afternoon after the major-leaguers are done for the day.

Some of the team's top pitching prospects will see action in split-squad doubleheaders; the Reds have four scheduled.

"We have a lot of depth and quality," Boone said. "We're going to get a lot of (starters) ready. Every year somebody surprises you."

Despite all the bodies in camp, the Reds' lineup and roster are pretty well set. Twenty-one of the 25 roster spots are pretty much locked up, unless there are injuries.

• The starting lineup (eight): Sean Casey at first, Aaron Boone at second, Barry Larkin at shortstop, Larson at third, Ken Griffey Jr. in center field, Kearns in right, Adam Dunn in left and JasonLaRue at catcher.

• Bench players with contracts (three): catcher Kelly Stinnett, outfielder Reggie Taylor and infielder Juan Castro.

• Starting rotation (four): Jimmy Haynes, Ryan Dempster, Danny Graves and Paul Wilson.

• The bullpen (six): Scott Williamson, Gabe White, Scott Sullivan and John Riedling are locks. Bruce Chen and Chris Reitsma each figures to make the club as either a starter or reliever.

Infielder/outfielder Branyan (shoulder) will take another spot when he's healthy. The same is true of Wily Mo Pena (hamstring).

Felipe Lopez and Gookie Dawkins will vie for an extra infielder job, and Ruben Mateo and Jose Guillen will battle for the fifth outfield spot.

And the pitching? Barring trades or injuries, 23 pitchers are shooting for two or three available spots.

That is not to say the Reds don't have questions that must be answered.

Spring training will be used to find out if Aaron Boone can make the move from third base to second. The Reds will try to settle on a leadoff man, and they'll try to sort out which young arms are ready to help.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

Sunday Enquirer Spring Training Outlook:
• Team preview
• Outlook by position
• Five key questions
• Five players who could surprise
• Spring training roster
• Spring game schedule
• Sarasota boasts non-baseball attractions