Reds Form Pitching Caucus

CINCINNATI—Fifteen of the Reds’ pitchers, some prospects, some who got their first taste of the big leagues in 2015, met at the team’s spring training home in Goodyear, Ariz., in mid-January for what manager Bryan Price called a “pitching summit.”

The Reds are in a rebuilding phase and rebuilding with pitching, so Price, major league pitching coach Mark Riggins, bullpen coach Mack Jenkins and Triple-A pitching coach Ted Power hosted some of the team’s top prospects. The lone veteran on the Reds’ staff, Homer Bailey, was also there.

The Reds have loaded up on pitching prospects over the last couple of years, so there had to be limitations to keep the group to just 15. The group was limited to pitchers who reached at least the Double-A level in 2015 and could be part of the team’s 2016 big league squad.

In all, the Reds had 110 games started by rookies Seven of those are back this season and all seven—Anthony DeSclafani, Raisel Iglesias, Michael Lorenzen, John Lamb, Brandon Finnegan, Jon Moscot and Keyvius Sampson—were in Goodyear. They were joined by lefthander Cody Reed, Rookie Davis, Stephen Johnson, Matt Magill, Robert Stephenson—who ranked No. 32 in the Top 100 Prospects— Zack Weiss, Sal Romano and Rule 5 pick Chris O’Grady.

“You look at the bunch and you say, that’s a lot of talent,” Price said. “To me, it’s the next generation of young pitchers. I have to go back to when I first got the job in 2010 to feel this good with what we have in the system.”

Nobody threw off the mound, and mostly the pitchers did what they were already doing in their training program for spring training.

“More than anything, it was an intensive period of time to focus on how we attain success as a group and how we grow faster, how we mature faster, because we’re so young,” Price said. “How do we create the expectation to be successful even though we’re young and inexperienced as a staff? And how to unify our group and it’s paramount that we look at this as a collective effort, not an individual one.”

RED HOTS

• Lamb had back surgery and might not be ready for spring training, but the team expects him for the regular season.

• Outfielder Scott Schebler will be one of several players, along with Yorman Rodriguez and Adam Duvall to compete for the left-field job, which could also be a platoon.