By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Tuesday's game

LOS ANGELES - Joe Valentine is the first. If you're on the lookout for Aaron Harang or Brandon Claussen, you probably will have to wait until at least Saturday.

Valentine, a 23-year-old right-hander, was the first of the six pitchers the Reds obtained in last week's four trades to make it to the majors with the Reds. The other two will be coming as players-to-be-named.

Valentine was called up Tuesday to take Jimmy Haynes' roster spot.

Because of their schedules, Harang and Claussen will not be able to pitch Friday's series opener against the San Diego Padres. Regular starters Jose Acevedo and Paul Wilson will work tonight and Thursday's games at Los Angeles.

That leaves John Bale to start Friday.

Look for Harang to make Saturday's start in Haynes' spot.

"That's (Harang's) day," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "That's the way we're leaning. We'll probably finalize it (today)."

Claussen started for Triple-A Louisville at Charlotte on Tuesday night.

As for Bale, you may not know who he is. He slipped in under the radar when the Reds were making all those moves last week.

But Miley is very familiar with Bale.

Bale, a 28-year-old left-hander, pitched for Miley at Louisville from May 8 until Miley was named Reds manager July 28. A day later, Bale was promoted to the Reds to take Scott Williamson's spot.

Miley looked at the other alternatives - most notably Josh Hall - and decided to give Bale a shot.

"I'm happy and excited to give him a chance," Miley said.

Bale feels the same way.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I'm definitely very excited. You always dream about starting a major-league game."

Roughly half of Bale's minor-league appearances were starts. He made a couple of spot starts for Louisville this year.

The Reds picked up Bale after the New York Mets released him. Bale was 4-1 with a 3.30 ERA for the Bats. He allowed only 36 hits and struck out 43 in 43 innings there.