During last year’s spring training, I remember hearing about a prospect in the Cincinnati Reds’ system who grew up in Germany and didn’t play baseball until he was 16. He was raw, but he’s still in the system and has improved.

Reds manager Dusty Baker has raved about Donald Lutz this spring. Lutz, or “Big Lutz,” as Baker calls him, has a lot of pop in his bat.

How much pop?

“He hit a ball as hard the other day … it reminded me of Willie Stargell and those guys. When I was a kid and I was playing center field, I was nervous. (I thought) Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey might hit a ball that I’d misjudge and it would hit me in the chest and go through me.”

Lutz, unlike his 30 Rock namesake, is tall and muscular, standing at 6 feet, 3 inches and weighing 250 pounds. So far this Spring, he’s got a .353 average, an on base percentage of .389, and a slugging percentage of .588. This is all in sizes so small it’s hardly a sample, but he does also have a home run and 5 RBI.

He could be a special player in the next year or two. This year, though, he’s likely to start in Pensacola on the AA team. There he’ll continue to work on the move from first base to the outfield. Because even though he’s 2 or 3 years away from the majors, the Reds have a first baseman for quite some time who isn’t moving for anyone.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (2-11)	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	4	10	0
Angels (2-8)	0	0	0	1	0	0	5	0	-	6	12	0

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds dropped their seventh game in a row yesterday, losing 6-4 to the Angels. However, just like the points in Who’s Line is it Anyway?, the losses don’t matter.

What can matter is the results of the players. Since the Reds have pretty much no competition for any of their starting roster spots, the players can actually take the time to focus on practicing and getting ready for the season. It makes for a different kind of spring training as a Reds fan.

So what were the results? Mike Leake started the game and had three strong innings, allowing no runs, four hits, and striking out 2. Aroldis Chapman followed him, and gave up a home run to the first batter he faced. That was the only run he allowed in his two innings of work.

The reason the Reds lost was due to the usage of young prospect Josh Ravin, who allowed five runs in his 1/3 inning of work. Again, another example that the Reds can treat spring training differently than in the 2000s. Here they’re letting a prospect pitch against some talent at a higher level than him, ostensibly in the hopes it can spur Ravin to realize how much harder he needs to work to compete in the majors.

As for the offense, the bats finally woke up, thanks to Jay Bruce. He hit two home runs, both solo shots, which had the Reds leading until Ravin’s appearance in the 7th. The offense tried to come back, but the two runs in the 8th and 9th just weren’t enough.

Today the Reds will play Team Canada. Mat Latos will start for the Reds, while the Canadians send out Mark Hardy. Game time is 9:05pm.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (2-10)	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	6	3
Diamondbacks (5-5)	1	0	0	0	2	0	4	0	-	7	9	0

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds continued their losing ways yesterday, dropping their 10th Spring Training game to the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2.

Johnny Cueto started and pitched well. Over three innings, he allowed one run on one hit and struck out four.

Overall, the pitching wasn’t as bad as the 7-spot makes it look. The defense committed 3 errors, contributing to 4 unearned runs. Manny Parra and Clay Hensley took the brunt of that in their relief appearances, combining to give up 6 runs, only 2 of which were earned.

As for the scoring, the Reds took an early lead, thanks to a Zack Cozart solo home run in the first. The offense was largely silent until the seventh, when Henry Rodriguez knocked in a run.

The real excitement, though, came before the game began. Dusty Baker and Kirk Gibson, the Diamondbacks manager, had a disagreement about the usage of the designated hitter.

“He wanted his pitcher to hit and I wanted Choo to DH,” Baker said following a 7-2 Reds loss. “They sent over word that’s what they wanted to do. It would have been fine with me to do both. It’s up to the home team of what they want to do. Usually here we let teams DH early.”

Apparently, Gibson wasn’t having any of that. It was National League rules all the way.

At the exchange of lineup cards, there were some words between the two managers. Gibson offered to shake hands, but Baker refused.

“We didn’t have a very pleasant encounter at home plate,” Baker said. “That’s how it goes. It’s over.”

The result? Choo didn’t start and Cesar Izturis was moved to the leaf-off position. Cueto batted in the third inning, but struck out looking because he was forbidden to swing the bat.

Such drama for a Spring Training game.

Today, the Reds will play the Angels at 3:05pm EST.

The Cincinnati Reds played two games yesterday, allowing both Aroldis Chapman and Mike Leake to start on the same day.

The comparisons between the two will be constant throughout the Spring, as both are vying for the 5th starter’s slot. With Leake, we have a good idea what he brings to the table: a solid, average starter with the potential for a little more. With Chapman, we know how he did as a lights-out closer last year, but no one knows how the conversion to a starter will affect him.

If yesterday’s results are any indication, it could go very well. Chapman pitched two perfect innings. That’s no runs, hits, and no walks. He struck out one.

As is common in the beginning of Spring Training, Chapman threw mostly off-speed pitches.

“I feel I could locate the pitches where I want,” he said. “The results, you saw what happened. The results were good. I was really happy.”

I think everyone is, except maybe manager Dusty Baker, who’s likely to lose his favorite closer.

As for Leake, he was, well, average. In two innings, he allowed one run. But in a somewhat uncharacteristic fashion, he struck out three.

I’m rooting for Chapman to succeed as a starter. But having Leake as insurance is a very nice policy.