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Thompson gone, but not for long
Thursday, July 03, 2008
CINCINNATI — Daryl Thompson's stay in Cincinnati was short, but manager Dusty Baker said it isn't over, even though Thompson was optioned back to Class AAA Louisville so fast Thursday, July 3, he didn't have time to get lost.
Thompson, 0-2 with a 6.91 earned run average in three starts, was beat up by Pittsburgh in his third start Wednesday — giving up hits to the first five Pirates he faced.
"He's close, real close," said Baker. "Most guys with his experience have command problems, throwing strikes. He was throwing strikes, but he was up in the zone. He was throwing middle-of-the-plate strikes.
"He is not afraid and has tremendous desire and athleticism," Baker added. "For his best sake, well, he is one of the best guys in our future plans. He has to tighten his slider a little bit and that will make everything else better.
"We like him and just think how far he has come since spring training," said Baker. "He's come up the ladder rather quickly. With his future and what we think of him, we thought it is in his best interests to go back and tighten things up."
The Reds don't need a fifth starter until a week from Saturday in Milwaukee and it is likely Josh Fogg will make that start. Fogg's last three rehab starts (lower back pain) have been for 8 1/3 innings, a complete game and an eight-inning shutout, all more than 100 pitches.
"And," said Fogg. "I've been ready to pitch for a month."
For the moment, in a curious set of transactions, the Reds claimed infielder Andy Phillips off waivers from the New York Mets. Phillips was claimed off waivers by the Mets from the Reds eight days ago.
"Phillips is back after a very short stint in New York," said Baker.
Cabrera's plans
Jolbert Cabrera, his left index finger encased in a bandage, said he will begin batting practice next week, two weeks after dislocating the finger so badly that he needed surgery to unwrap the tendons from around the bone and to insert 17 stitches.
Jolbert did it sliding head-first into second base in Yankee Stadium and was hitting .379 at the time.
Any more head-first slides? "That's baseball instinct," he said. "I've been doing it for 18 years and that's the first time anything like that happened.
Back to Babe Bruce
With home runs the first two times he batted against the Pirates on Wednesday, rookie Jay Bruce is convinced he is back in focus.
After a 6-for-54 slide, Bruce entered Thursday's game 6-for-15 (.400).
It's attitude.
"For me, it's literally all pitch selection," he said. "I'm swinging at better pitches. I was too anxious because pitchers were pitching me differently to get me off my approach that I try to stick with. They get you off that approach and you have to really focus to stick with your approach.
"It's all focus, trusting yourself, knowing what you can and can't handle," he said.
Support for Jocketty
Former Reds general manager Jim Bowden, now in the same capacity with the Washington Nationals, believes Walt Jocketty is the man to save the Reds.
"The Reds hired the right man," said Bowden. "I'm a big fan of Walt Jocketty. If they give him the leeway, and it looks as if they're spending money, he'll do here what he did in St. Louis."
Quote(s) of the day
• "He is the best 3-10 pitcher in baseball today, the best in the universe." — National League scout.
• "He is on the DL and can't play. What are we going to get for him, a bag of balls?" — A Reds player when it was reported that teams were interested in trading for Ryan Freel.
