GOODYEAR, Arizona – The Cincinnati Reds expect the starting rotation to be one of the main strengths of the roster this season, but it’ll look a lot different in the first week of the season than it did at the beginning of camp.
Luis Castillo was named the Opening Day starter. Tyler Mahle will likely pitch in the second game of the season, April 3 against the St. Louis Cardinals, and the rest of the rotation order is in flux, but it will likely include lefty Wade Miley, right-hander Jeff Hoffman and righty José De León.
Sonny Gray and Michael Lorenzen are expected to begin the season on the 10-day injured list, but they will join the rotation when they’re healthy.
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“I think early on because of some of these injuries, we’re going to have to scrap,” Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson said. “When I say scrap, meaning like we’re just going to have to make sure we get guys in there, see what they can do, put the right guys in the back end if we’re winning and kind of figure it out as we go. It’s definitely not a cut-and-dry year to begin with. It’s a little bit more of a we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Hoffman, acquired in a trade from the Colorado Rockies in November, and De León are viewed as work-in-progress pitchers. The Reds love their potential, but they haven’t had consistent success at the Major League level.
In five spring training starts, Hoffman has yielded 17 hits and 13 runs across 17 innings with 15 strikeouts and five walks. He allowed three runs in the first inning against the San Diego Padres in his last outing, but then he retired 12 of his next 13 hitters.
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“Jeff, to me, is one of those guys that it’s going to be a learning year for him,” Johnson said. “That’s not to say that I don’t think he will pitch well because I do. I also think he’s the guy that is going to learn on the fly.
“He’s already kind of shown me that there is some aptitude there, there is some acumen there. So, really, then it’s about getting him in our system and seeing what happens and making adjustments as we go. I’m happy with where he is right now.”
It’s been an up-and-down camp for De León. His final start of the spring, against the Chicago White Sox, was a good example. He struck out seven of the first 14 batters he faced while allowing one hit, fooling hitters with his fastball and changeup. Then the wheels came off and he gave up hits to six of the last seven batters he faced.
Like Hoffman, it’ll be a year to learn at the big-league level for De León.
“When you’re talking about guys like that, I don’t see it as being scary,” Johnson said. “I see it as being almost normal. I think if you look at some of the pitching staffs we’ve had here the last couple of years, that’s happened a lot. Whether it was in the starting five, whether it was in our bullpen, you saw Lucas Sims sort of develop in front of your eyes. You saw (Anthony) DeSclafani do similar things as the season progressed. I look at it like it’s normal.”
The Reds are confident that it won’t be an extended absence for Lorenzen or Gray, but they will be a little conservative with their rehab schedules. Lorenzen left a “B” game start with a slight right shoulder strain last weekend and he’s already throwing again. Gray pitched to hitters for the first time Friday after an MRI showed mid-back muscle soreness.
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Johnson said that the trainers “are amazed at the progress” that Lorenzen has made in the past week.
“I want to win games at the beginning of the year just like everyone else,” Johnson said. “I also don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we go too fast with a guy and all of a sudden we’re down two or three starters simply because we were in a rush to get them going for April 1.”
Johnson said the Reds have no plans to use a six-man rotation this year and they will likely break camp with 13 pitchers (eight relievers). They haven’t finalized roster decisions for their bullpen as some key arms, including Tejay Antone, continue to rehab from injuries.
“We’ve sort of tried to keep everything as open as we possibly can,” Johnson said. “It will go down to the wire with most of these guys. Again, I think it’s because of where we’re at from a depth perspective. It’d be great to tell guys, ‘hey, you’ve made the team. You’re on it. Here we go.’ I just don’t think we’ve put ourselves in a position to do that quite yet.”
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