By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Reitsma is one of the Reds' good guys: Mild-mannered, polite, a family man. But after being optioned to Triple-A Louisville, Reitsma was seething.

"I guess they don't want a guy with 3.50 ERA who can start, work long or short in relief," he said.

Reitsma was one of three players to go Monday when the Reds trimmed their roster to 26 - one above the limit. Outfielder Jose Guillen and infielder Wilton Guerrero were re-assigned to the minor league camp.

Reitsma, a 25-year-old right-hander, lost out to Jimmy Anderson in the race for the fifth starting spot. There was a chance Reitsma would make the club as a reliever, but the fact he had options played into the decision.

"That doesn't make it easy, that doesn't make it right, but that's the way it is," Reitsma said. "I need to be in the big leagues. I've proved I can do it."

Reds general manager Jim Bowden agreed.

"Chris Reitsma deserves to be on the team," Bowden said. "He earned that the last two years. This doesn't have anything to do with performance. It had to do with options. We're going to use 14 or 15 pitchers this year; we want to keep as many as we can."

Reitsma has spent most of the last two seasons in the big leagues. He made the club out of camp as a long shot in 2001. He went 7-15 with a 5.29 ERA as a rookie. He led National League rookies in starts (29) and innings pitched (182).

He came out of spring training as the fifth starter last year. He was in the rotation until mid-July, when he was optioned to Louisville after losing seven of eight decisions. After making three starts at Louisville, he returned to the Reds and pitched well, mostly in relief.

Overall, he went 6-12 but improved his ERA to 3.64. His record is a little misleading because the Reds scored only an average of 2.33 runs in his starts while he was still in the game.

Reitsma thought he had the team made based on his record.

"I'm positive there are 20 to 25 other clubs out there that would love to have me," he said. "I know that for a fact. Obviously, at this point in time, they don't think they need me up here. That being said, they control my rights."

Again, the options thing came into play. Reds manager Bob Boone, who gave Reitsma the news, understood Reitsma's reaction.

"It's a horrible day for me personally," Boone said. "There's very little in this game that is fair. This is an indication of the rules. It was the options, but the fact is he didn't have the best spring training."

Reitsma was 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA in five appearances this spring. He allowed 20 hits and five walks in 15 1/3 innings.

"Jimmy Anderson pushed his way into the mix," Boone said. "I would have guessed going in it was Reitsma over Anderson."

Reitsma will be one of the first options should the need arise for another pitcher.

It usually does.

"For us to go through the year with only 12 pitchers, a lot would have to go right," Boone said.

The Reds made the Reitsma move before they were certain that Paul Wilson could make his first start of the year.

Reitsma got the news at about 10 a.m. Wilson tested his strained right hamstring in a minor-league game at noon.

He came out OK, and the Reds could also use Ryan Dempster on short rest. So Reitsma will likely start the season in Louisville.

Again, he doesn't think that's where he should be.

"I feel bad for the team," Reitsma said. "I feel bad for the fans of Cincinnati because I feel there's a better team that can be fielded, moving into a new stadium. I've proven myself, and I can be that person people count on."

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com