Pitchers and catchers report Friday. The rest of the team reports a week from tomorrow. The first game is a week later, against Cleveland.
Mark Sheldon has an excellent introduction to the Reds spring training. It’s quite comprehensive in discussing the roster, expected lineup, rotation, bullpen. It talks about the players who have left the team and the new arrivals.
Sheldon has this quote from Homer Bailey about Bryan Price:
“Having Bryan here, the things he instilled for our rotation and bullpen — 25 guys need to buy into it,” Reds starting pitcher Homer Bailey said. “We need to play the game better. I know where [Price] stands for all of that. It’s definitely so far in the right direction, it’s great. We still have to go out there and win games.”
In case you missed it, Eli Saslow at ESPN ran a fascinating article on Aroldis Chapman and his lifestyle in the off-season.
Sometimes Chapman walks through the quiet halls of his five-bedroom, six-bath mansion and finds himself missing the humble three-room house, with its leaky ceiling and cracked walls, where he grew up — missing the living room crowded with relatives, the friends, noise, gossip, chaos and uncertainty. “There is my life in Cuba and my life in America, the old life and the new life, and almost nothing about them is the same,” he says.
But if Bryan Price isn’t concerned (John Fay) about Chapman, you shouldn’t be.
Joey Votto spent another hour on Lance McAlister’s show last night. Here’s the link to McAlister’s page with the podcast. Wide range of topics covered. Joey isn’t concerned with Chapman’s offseason routine either, other than being envious about the way the Cuban smokes a cigar.