DaytonDailyNews.com

SARASOTA, Fla. — Jim Leyland, with stops at Pittsburgh, Colorado, Florida and Detroit, knows a thing or four about managing a major-league baseball team.

So when he talks about Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker, it's like listening to the Dalai Lama.

"Dusty has one of my favorite things, one of the things I've got," said Leyland. "He has a passion for the game. He loves to be in uniform, loves to manage, loves the game, loves to be second-guessed."

And Leyland says those traits will translate into success for the Reds in the tissue-thin National League Central — and this was before the Reds beat his Tigers, 5-3, on Monday, March 17.

"His team is going to be a very big surprise," Leyland said. "Quietly, that team has one of the best offenses in baseball. The team they put on the field looks pretty good to me, and with Dusty managing they could be a force."

It was no surprise that before the game Baker asked Leyland about promoting young pitchers with little experience from the minors to the majors.

The Tigers did it with Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya, pitchers from Class A. Baker asked about Johnny Cueto and Leyland said, "I'll take him off your hands if you don't want him." And that goes for Edinson Volquez, too.

Leyland's Tigers looked as if they were going to defrock the phee-nom in the first inning Monday, when they scored two runs off Cueto, who walked the first two batters and allowed four of the first five to reach.

On the verge of sinking, Cueto revived himself like a veteran, giving up no runs and no hits (one walk) over his next three innings.

"He seemed unfazed by the first inning and you know he was bothered by it, but he calmly handled it like damage control," said Baker. "And it wasn't like he was pitching against some slouches. That's a pretty good lineup. He is making an impression on everybody."

With less than two weeks before Opening Day, Baker would not anoint Cueto and Volquez into the rotation, but there was a significant pregame move. Jeremy Affeldt, competing for a rotation spot, was told he is now in the bullpen.

"Today was a big test for Cueto and he passed it like he has passed all the other ones," Baker said. "Cueto and Volquez haven't won spots yet, but they've painted good pictures."

Afterward, Leyland said of Cueto, "Some of the best crude stuff I've seen. One of the best-looking young pitchers I've seen. Impressive."