Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Sean Doolittle started warming up in the bullpen well before the ninth inning in Tuesday’s 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On Tuesday, standout relievers Lucas Sims and Tejay Antone were unavailable after throwing multiple innings in the previous day’s game. Doolittle eventually pitched the ninth inning and recorded his first save since the 2019 World Series.
Even though Doolittle was the de facto closer on Tuesday, manager David Bell said it didn’t have to be that way.
“We wanted (Doolittle) to pitch in that game,” Bell said. “If the seventh or eighth had gone different, (Doolittle) probably would have pitched as early as the seventh inning, and that just changes who we use on the backend.”
When the season started, Bell didn’t name a closer to replace Raisel Iglesias. While the Reds bullpen has the third-highest ERA in Major League Baseball this season at 5.12, Bell has almost always used his best available relief pitchers in the most high-leverage situations.
In Monday’s win over the Dodgers, Sims entered the game in the sixth inning and pitched 1 ⅔ hitless innings. In that game, Sims flipped roles in the bullpen with Antone, who pitched the last three innings of the game and also didn’t allow a hit.
That approach continued on Tuesday, even without Sims and Antone.
“(Doolittle) stayed ready, he was ready for a couple innings,” Bell said. “(We) changed the plan a little bit, he pitched the ninth and looked very comfortable in that role pitching the ninth against the middle of the order. They just all came in and did a great job.”
Before Doolittle entered the game, the Reds received contributions from a group of new relief pitchers. José De León opened the regular season as a starting pitcher, Carson Fulmer was a late pickup in the last two weeks of spring training and Ryan Hendrix and Heath Hembree were at the Reds alternate site in Louisville last week.
That group of pitchers allowed just three hits and two runs in four innings on Tuesday. Then Doolittle retired all three batters he faced and became the third Reds pitcher to record a save this season.
“To have the freedom to do that and to have guys that are willing to be ready, to stay ready, it’s not easy,” Bell said. “I’ve never done it, but to stay ready for multiple innings like that, I know that can wear a reliever out mentally probably more than anything. (Doolittle) did a great job of staying ready right there.”
Shogo Akiyama stays on track
When Bell received a report on how outfielder Shogo Akiyama had done in an intersquad scrimmage, Bell didn’t even ask how many hits Akiyama had.
Akiyama had played six innings in the field and had five at-bats while running the bases on three of them. Bell said that was a successful day for Akiyama, who is recovering from a hamstring injury from spring training.
Akiyama remains on pace to return to the MLB roster in early May.
“For me, it was just about him completing the game and getting six innings of defense, and also that many at-bats,” Bell said. “Successful day for him. Today is a down day, more of a day of rest and recovery. And then back in the game tomorrow.”
Jonathan India out of the lineup again
For the second consecutive day, Reds second baseman Jonathan India was out of the starting lineup. India had started 20 of the Reds first 22 games, but he started on the bench on both Tuesday and Wednesday against the Dodgers.
“Every now and then, it’s good for a young player to watch and have a couple of days where he can continue to get his work in and stay ready off the bench,” Bell said. “There’s no way he sees it that way, and that’s a good thing, but most likely he’ll be back on Friday.”
Kyle Farmer, who had two hits on Tuesday, received his second start of the year at second base.
“(Farmer) is playing really well and kind of playing all over the infield,” Bell said. “Just an opportunity to keep everyone on our team involved and contributing and playing well.”
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