Last game
Ugly, ugly score yesterday. The Reds lost to the Mariners 16-0. Homer Bailey took the brunt of it, allowing 9 runs (8 earned) on 9 hits and 2 walks through 3.1 innings. Wilkin De La Rosa gave up the next 6 (5 earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks through 1.1 innings. Compared to those two, the run apiece given up by Manny Parra and Kevin Whelan hardly seem worth mentioning. Justin Freeman and J.J. Hoover pitched scoreless innings.

Not much to say on the offensive side. Zack Cozart was the only one to manage two hits. Even Joey Votto went 0-for-4.

Johnny Cueto’s first pitch of the 2012 season.

Not that I’m worried, but…
With all respect to the fact that spring training games are just a chance to try things out and work out the kinks, and acknowledging the fact that the Reds don’t have a lot of contentious roster spots for guys to be going all out to secure, it seems like maybe Cincinnati should be winning a little more. I mean, this is practice time for all the other teams, too, but they’ve still managed to beat the Reds 2/3 of the time.

I take a little comfort in the fact that I’m still seeing an awful lot of names I’ve never heard before in the box scores, which makes me think Dusty’s mostly fielding the AAA team to see who will come up when injuries happen. I’m also encouraged that today’s start by Cueto marks the last practice turn of the rotation: maybe this is when they start practicing the “intensity” part of the game.

I don’t care about the 9-18; I just don’t want March to have been a month’s worth of practice at losing.

What to say to sound smart at the water cooler
You can get on TV during a Reds post-game show to ask a question (to the hosts of Reds Live, I guess?) by going to the Holy Grail at the Banks before the games on these dates:

• 4/1/2013 (Opening Day) 1p-3p
• 4/19/2013 6p-7p
• 5/10/2013 6p-7p
• 5/24/2013 6p-7p
• 6/14/2013 6p-7p
• 7/3/2013 6p-7p
• 7/19/2013 6p-7p
• 8/2/2013 6p-7p
• 8/23/2013 6p-7p
• 9/6/2013 6p-7p

Last Game
It was yet another loss for the Reds yesterday. They lost 2-4 while visiting the Rangers in Surprise, AZ. The game was televised on the MLB Network, so I got to watch a Reds lineup minus Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips while I put in my time on the treadmill. It was so meta.

Devin Mesoraco went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Miguel Olivo went 1-for-1 with an RBI and a run scored. That’s about all that’s worth mentioning from the offensive side.

From the defensive side, there’s more to say. Starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo took a line-drive to the pitching hand in the sixth inning. He left the game for x-rays, which were negative, and it sounds like today he’s already feeling fine. It must be the supplements.

Next Game
This afternoon the Reds host the Mariners at 4:05 p.m. Homer Bailey will be starting for the Reds.

Mark Berry congratulates Scott Rolen after a game-tying home run.

He has caught it early and has a couple treatment options, which may or may not limit his ability to take the field.

Apparently his sister has a similar condition, so though the preliminary tests showed that there was no cancer, Berry pursued more aggressive testing and discovered it was more serious.

The organization is super supportive, and it sounds like Berry might have a very positive outcome. There’s a great write-up of the situation on Reds.com. I recommend you check it out.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
This weather sure doesn’t make it feel like it’s time for baseball. But there have been several snowed out games. In 2007, the Cleveland Indian’s opening day game was delayed by snow. There are a few videos on YouTube, even.

Last Game
It appears that the Reds’ offense has woken up for the season. I say that just because the Reds have scored 46 runs in their last six games. The 9 they added to that total last night against the A’s, though, still weren’t enough due to the giving up of 10 runs. The pitchers may still be a little groggy yet.

Johnny Cueto had a rough time of it. He gave up 5 runs (earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks in just 1.2 innings of work. Nick Christiani gave up the next 2 runs in the following 1.1 innings. By this point, Logan Ondrusek’s 1 run allowed in 1.0 innings must have looked pretty good. Wilkin De La Rosa was the unlucky one to get credit for the final 2 runs, including the game winner in the bottom of the ninth.

Despite all the runs, no one really stands out offensively, thanks to the fact that 25 different guys took the field for the Reds in yesterday’s game. Zack Cozart did go 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Joey Votto went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. His .394 spring training batting average is gaudy.

Aroldis Chapman about to throw. Fast

Everyone will be scrutinizing the nature of Chapman’s contribution to try to get a hint at which of these two guys is going to get that fifth rotation spot.

Prior offenses
I bet crappy headlines like that got used all the time while Prior was pitching for Chicago.

Mark Prior pitched an inning for the Reds yesterday. He was the only one of the seven pitcher who didn’t allow so much as a hit.

Prior is the Benjamin Button of baseball players, breaking into the majors in his first season after being drafted at age 21. He pitched 167 innings his first year and 211 his second year with the Cubs, where our own Dusty Baker was managing at the time. 2006 was the last year for both of them in Chicago, and Prior has been in the minors ever since.

Baker took a lot of flak for the breaking of Prior, but it was in the larger context of Cubs dysfunction. The Reds have a whole group of experts deciding how many innings guys should pitch these days. It takes a village, guys.

Anyway, it sounds like they might be bringing Prior up at some point this season. I hope it works out really well for him. I have to admire a guy who’s still willing to go pay his dues in the minors for all those years.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Nick Cafardo at the Boston Globe ranked Dusty Baker as the 12th best manager in the game going into this season.

I’d link to it, but it’s behind a paywall and I’m not shelling out $.99 for 4 weeks of access to Boston-area news. You can read about it how I did, though, via the gently dissenting opinion at Firebrand of the American League.