By Kevin Kelly and John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

If you think Jason LaRue is champing at the bit now that he's on the disabled list with a finger fracture on his throwing hand, you should have seen him in Single-A ball when he missed a half season with a broken leg suffered in a collision at home plate.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Tuesday's game

"At least now I can do everything I need to do to stay in catching shape except throw," LaRue said. "Back when I broke my leg, I was out for half a season and couldn't do much of anything."

He's serving bullpen duty, warming up pitchers (except when they're in a hurry; he can't zip the ball back to them between pitches) and he has caught some of the starters getting in their between-starts work.

"To stay in catching shape, you've got to catch," LaRue said. "You can lift all the weights in the world, but there's nothing except for catching that's going to keep you in catching shape. The other reason I do it is I like being part of the team."

Despite the beating all catchers take behind the plate, LaRue said he doesn't plan on trying to talk his 5- and 3-year-old sons out of catching when they grow up, if that' s what they want to do.

"But who knows, they've got a lot of growing to do," LaRue said. "My dad's 6-foot-4, my brothers 6-4, and my wife's family has a lot of height, too, so maybe they'll be tall."

FREEL-INGS: Ryan Freel - he of the whiplash-neck injury suffered last Sunday while diving for a ball - expects to be available for duty in a day or two.

He was walking around the clubhouse before Tuesday's game with a mobile electro-stim machine in his hand to control the vibes he was sending to his neck to relax the muscles and speed the healing.

The wires, white patch and hand-held unit inspired bullpen coach Tom Hume to come up from the side during a media interview to ask, "How's Mr. Frankenstein doing?"

Freel did the entire upper-body swivel to acknowledge Hume, so it's obvious he's not ready to torque up at the plate or turn a double play.

"It was a big turnaround from (Monday to Tuesday), so I'm thinking only a couple of more days," Freel said. "(Monday) night I slept a lot better, so that helped a lot."

KEARNS LEADS CHEERS: Austin Kearns spent Monday evening cheering his teammates as they beat the Astros.

"I'm glad these guys got that win," Kearns said. "I was the biggest cheerleader they had sitting on the couch watching it."

The Reds' starting right fielder, who suffered a broken left forearm when he was hit by a pitch April 26, threw and hit off a tee prior to Tuesday's game against the Brewers.

"(Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek) was pretty upbeat about it," said Kearns, who is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list May 12. "He thought it was maybe two to three weeks (from the time of injury).

"Hopefully this tee work and soft-toss I have to do the next few days will go well so I can get back out there as soon as possible."

Kearns is wearing a protective brace and said there is some pain when he takes the brace off after wearing it for extended periods of time. The swelling, however, has subsided.

"There still is some bruising," he said. "But it's not swollen."

When he does resume playing, Kearns probably will wear a pad to protect his arm and hand.

MORE PROGRESS: Injured infielder/outfielder John Vander Wal's recovery from offseason knee surgery continues to go well.

Vander Wal, who has begun to take batting practice and is running on flat ground, fielded fly balls in center field prior to the game.

"He looked good," Reds manager Dave Miley said.

The Reds have given no timetable for his return.

WORD OF MOUTH: One of the most mentioned trade rumors of the early season involves Reds reliever John Riedling and Marlins backup outfielder Abraham Nunez.

With reliever Chad Fox out for at least four weeks with an elbow injury, the Marlins are in need of a bullpen arm.

Nunez, 27, was hitting .263 through 19 at-bats this season.

"I've heard it. All my friends have called to tell me," said Riedling, who had a 0.75 ERA in 12 appearances through Monday. "You always hear stuff like this, more so toward the deadline. I'm not worried about it. I'm a Red right now."

WAGNER FLAW: There's a pop standard from years back that contains the lyrics, "Straighten up and fly right." Well, keep that song away from Ryan Wagner.

The flaw in Wagner's delivery detected by the Reds pitching brain trust is that Wagner was standing too tall as he came through his windup to deliver the ball.

"I was standing up," Wagner said with a nod, before Tuesday's game. So, was he anxious to get back on the mound?

"Now I am," he said.

Wagner worked a scoreless eighth Tuesday, despite giving up a flare single and a walk to start the inning. He got out of it when Wes Helms lined into a 5-4-3 double play and Gary Bennett flied out.

"My stuff was down, and that's the key," Wagner said. "It doesn't matter how hard you throw or how good your stuff is. If you get the ball up, you're going to get hit."

Wagner didn't know he was standing too straight in his delivery, or he would have corrected it himself. He said it just takes one time to get into a bad habit.

"I was talking to Gravy (Reds closer Danny Graves) about it," Wagner said. "A lot of guys will form that habit just long-tossing, not finishing it off and just trying to get it over there."

Wagner called it common sense stuff, finishing off your pitches, knowing in your mind that you have to keep the ball down and going out and pitching that way.

DUCATS DELUXE: LaRue, Hume, Sean Casey and Danny Graves are again participating in ticket giveaways to young Reds fans.

At each Saturday game at Great American Ball Park, Casey will give 24 youths and chaperones center-field seats as part of his Casey's Crew program.

Non-profit organizations that serve the needs of underprivileged children may submit a letter of consideration at least three 3 weeks in advance to Cincinnati Reds, Attn: Casey's Crew, 100 Main St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.

Also returning this year is a ticket program supported by LaRue and Hume. It rewards outstanding 4-H Club members in Hamilton County. For each Saturday game, 20 youths and chaperones will get seats next to the Reds bullpen. The Hamilton County 4-H Youth Development office coordinates ticket distribution.

New this season is Graves Gravy Train ticket program. At each Sunday game, 24 youth baseball players and their coaches will watch the game from seats next to the Reds bullpen.

Youth baseball programs that serve the needs of underprivileged youth can submit a letter of consideration at least 3 weeks in advance to Cincinnati Reds, Attn: Gravy's Train, 100 Main St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.

REDS FACT: Cincinnati allowed 10 hits or more in nine games of the 10-game road trip it completed Monday.