DaytonDailyNews.com

CHICAGO — Ryan Jorgensen is 28 and owns 1,809 minor-league at-bats — and four at-bats in the major leagues.

He hasn't had a cup of coffee in the majors, just a sip, but he is back for the second time, this time as a backup catcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Manager Pete Mackanin plans to use him, and in fact, he'll start tonight against Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly.

In 2005, Jorgensen played four games for the Florida Marlins and was 0-for-4 at the plate, "Then I got sent back from the minors, and it was right in this clubhouse," he said, sitting in the Wrigley Field visitor's clubhouse.

Jorgensen was a lottery winner this week.

The Reds traded No. 3 catcher Chad Moeller last week, then No. 1 catcher David Ross suffered a concussion Sunday and was knocked onto the disabled list.

That left Jorgensen, a .229 hitter in 69 games at Class AAA Louisville with two homers and 26 RBIs.

"I have to use him; I just can't sit him," Mackanin said of Jorgensen. "Javier Valentin will get the brunt of the playing time, most of it, but I'll give Jorgensen a chance to play."

Said Jorgensen, "My call-up was unexpected, but Moeller getting traded and Ross getting hurt was just good timing for me."

A clean hit

There was a question as to whether Mike Cameron's steamroller act when he ran over Ross on Sunday was clean or dirty.

Mackanin wondered, too, but after checking with home plate umpire Tony Randazzo and watching video, Mackanin concluded Ross was victimized by the hazards of catching.

"I asked the umpire if (Cameron) hit Ross early, before he had the ball," Mackanin said. "He said, 'No, it was clean. He was in the process of catching the ball.'

"I wasn't sure, but when I watched the video it looked as if Ross stood right in front on the basepath, so the baserunner has no other choice when that happens, and I thought it was a clean hit," Mackanin added. "If the catcher is blocking the plate and you have no place to go, you knock him over. That's the game."

Gonzalez gone

Shortstop Alex Gonzalez once again is not with the Reds, remaining in Cincinnati to be with his gravely ill 10-month-old son Johan.

Gonzalez twice has been on the bereavement list and once on the restricted list already this year, but the Reds are waiting for the time being to see what needs to be done.

"Right now, it is a day-to-day thing, and we're going to have to figure something out there," Mackanin said. "It's an hour-by-hour thing, and we don't know what we're going to do yet. It is a touchy situation.

"(General Manager Wayne) Krivsky is working on it, but we don't know what is going on with his family, and I don't want to touch it," Mackanin added. "It has to be very difficult for Alex to play."

Jeff Keppinger played shortstop Tuesday, and Mackanin said, "Gonzalez is our shortstop, but when we put Keppinger there, like we did in Atlanta, we didn't miss a beat."

Quotes of the day

"I have a brother who is an architect and another brother who is an engineer, and I'm just a baseball jerk." — Mackanin.

"How can I lose when I have all these notes that cover every situation?" — Mackanin, shuffling a stack of hand-written notes on his desk.