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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > March > 05
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Masset does pitching pirouette
Nick Masset resurrected his rotation life Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates after nearly throwing it all away in his first chance this spring.
It’s still life with a thread, but it is a life.
Because he has proved he can work effectively in the bullpen, Masset is likely to make the Cincinnati Reds rotation only if both Micah Owings and Homer Bailey fail in their bids to win the No. 5 spot that Masset wants.
Owings and Bailey so far, in two appearances each, have been scintillating.
In his first start this spring, Masset was turned into Boston baked beans by the Boston Red Sox, giving up three runs and four hits, with a walk, in only one inning. It was uglier than a sea bass.
On Thursday, Masset pitched three innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates and gave up no runs and one hit - and he feared that one hit might have ended his spring.
Andy LaRoche, leading off the the second inning, lined one off Masset’s right foot and the first thing he thought was, “Oh, no.” His spot in the rotation flashed past. But he recovered quickly and finished his excellent adventure.
“I was trying to do more than I should have been trying to do my first time, but this time I was more relaxed and in tune with myself,” he said.
“The line drive stung for a little bit and at first it felt worse than it was and after I started moving around I knew it would be OK.
“I really did say, ‘Oh, no,’ especially after that first outing and how much I wanted to do good today,” he added. “I wanted to do my best, show everybody what I can do.”
Masset said he slept all right after the Boston Massacre — that it was the night before the Boston game when he was counting sheep.
“I was bitter after the game that night, but you have to take it with a grain of salt. Everyone is going to have those types of outings and it is spring training and it was my first one and I was all worked up. It was the night before when I lost sleep.”
After Masset’s first try, manager Dusty Baker said Masset appeared too hyper, too pumped.
“That’s exactly what it was,” said the 26-year-old righthander. “I felt like it was my debut all over again. You train all off-season for spring training and then you get on the hill and can’t calm yourself down. I wasn’t prepared in that
Shortstop Alex Gonzalez was the DH for the second straight game and had the same results - a single and a groundout. He appeared to run the bases OK, but didn’t have to run hard or slide to fully test his left knee.
He’ll take Friday off, not play against the Twins in Fort Myers, then DH Saturday and Sunday, “Then we’ll see how he is and try to put him in the field sometime ealry next week, we hope,” said Baker.
FOR THOSE who think scores and results of spring training games are important (they’re not), the Reds broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning when first baseman Kevin Barker homered to make it 4-3, then Jonny Gomes scored on Craig Tatum’s sacrifice lfy in the seventh to make it 5-3.
OOOOPS: Outfielder Darnell McDonald hit a grand slam home run in the bottom of the 10th, the team’s FOURTH grand slam, a walk-off blast to give the Reds a 10-6 win over the Pirates.
“Four? Maybe that’s an indication of what’s going to happen this year,” said Baker. He said it with more hope than sincerity.
IN THEIR FIRST nine games, the Reds have hit three grand slam homers (Gomes, Tatum, Jerry Hairston Jr.), most grand slams of any spring team so far.
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TweetBaker trying to get the right fit
When writers arrived at the media work room Thursday morning, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker was seated at a table with a guy selling suits - expensive suits, I presume.
The guy is here every spring and players wander in to check out his goods, too. My question is why do the players purchase suits? I seldom see them wear them. The dress code for their charter flights is sport coats. No ties necessary. No suits necessary.
But then, why do some players need six cars? Because they can afford them.
BAKER SAID he was pleased with what he saw from shortstop Alex Gonzalez in his debut Wednesday against the Dutch WBC team - even though all it involved was two at-bats as a DH and no fielding.
Gonzalez singled his second time at bat and Baker noticed a hitch in his giddy-up.
“I asked him if he was OK and he said he was,” said Baker. “But I noticed a funny gait as he ran to first base. He just has to get it out of his head. You tell somebody to quit limping and it’s like your mother telling you to quit scratching.”
Gonzalez was to appear again today against the Pirates as a DH, then hoped he would be back on the field to test the surgically repaired left knee that kept him out of the lineup for all of 2008.
IT WAS JACQUE JONES turn to play first base Thursday as Baker continues his auditions over who might be able to back up Joey Votto when he isn’t at first base.
“It’s been a while since I’ve played there,” said Jones.
How long?
“Long time,” he said.
“Ever? Ever play it in a major-league game?”
“Uh, no,” he said with a smile. “But I’ve worked out there. I go over there a lot and take ground balls, just to relieve the monotony of taking fly balls all day in the outfield. I like it because you are in the action most of the time.
“And it is not as easy as people seem to think,” he said. “There are places you have to be on every play and things to do on every play. But it’s fun and if I can show versatility I can be more valuable to the team.”
BAKER keeps a large white board that covers one entire wall of his office and it lists all 63 players in camp. And he stares at it constantly with hope.
“We have a whole wall full of guys who at one time were good players expected to be star-calibre players,” said Baker. “You look at Jonny Gomes - he was almost rookie of the year. There is Jacque Jones, a star at USC and a big-time player at Minnesota just a couple of years ago. Look at Darnell McDonald - a first round draft pick (Baltimore, 1997). Then there is Laynce Nix - he was a high-round draft pick (Rangers, fourth round, 2000).
“At any give time or day, they could play like they were touted,” said Baker. “It is just a matter of if they can put it all together for an extended period of time. I keep looking for a guy like (Ryan) Ludwick - a No. 1 draft pick and highly touted and it took him a while, four or five organizations, then ‘bam,’ he got it. And it’s possible. Because if it is in there, it’s in there. They just have to get it out.”
Ludwick, drafted No. 2 by Oakland in 1998, bounced from the A’s to Texas to Cleveland to St. Louis.
SOME GOOD lines from Baker this morning:
—“To be a good base stealer you have to have larceny in your heart and want to run.”
—“The game is going to go back to speed during the post-steroids era.”
—One wish I have, as I watch our kids do baserunning drills, is that wish that I could still fly and run the bases the way I did when I was a kid.”
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