Kent Mercker is the left-handed side of two-headed “veteran presence” that’s been passing as the Reds’ closer since last year. Along with David Weathers (and recently Chris Hammond), he’s been charged with helping to preen the young pitchers with his voice of experience.

And boy does he have some. Mercker first broke into the majors as a starter in 1989 with Atlanta, where he pitched a no-hitter and stuck around until 1996. After that, he went the way of the journeyman, doing stints with:

• Baltimore and Cleveland in 1996
• Cincinnati in 1997
• St. Louis in 1998
• St. Louis and Boston in 1999
• Anaheim in 2000 for all of 21 games
• Brain hemorrhage recovery in 2001
• Colorado in 2002
• Cincinnati and Atlanta in 2003
• Chicago Cubs in 2004
• Cincinnati in 2005 and so far in 2006

So, if nothing else, Mercker can teach all of the young guys about the intricacies of the locker rooms in just about every major league city.

For a hard-core statistical analysis of Kent Mercker, check out his Better Know a Red Feature over at JinAZ’s site.