Homer Bailey, Reds Fire Back At Mat Latos

In case you missed it, Mat Latos talked with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal Sunday morning and voiced a few complaints about his time in Cincinnati. Latos said he believed the Reds rushed him back too quickly after his knee surgery last season and he called out the Reds clubhouse. Latos cites a lack of veteran leadership in Cincinnati since the departures of Scott Rolen and Bronson Arroyo.

The interview is garnering a lot of attention for Latos’ negative remarks about his former team, but he also speaks very highly of Joey Votto and calls Sam LeCure “one of the funniest guy’s he’s ever been around.” Click here to read the entire transcript of Latos’ comments. Read further for highlights.

Latos on how the medical staff treated his knee:

"It’s kind of obvious when you’re looking at it and the (physical therapist) is looking at it, and this knee looks like a water balloon and this knee looks like a regular knee, don’t you think you would say, “Hey, let’s get some of that swelling down before we do anything?” But there’s nothing I can do about it. I went along with it because I wanted to be out there. I figured they knew what they were talking about."

Latos on the Reds’ clubhouse environment:

"You look at the Reds after we lost Bronson (Arroyo, after the 2013 season). Everything went to s—. You look at it after we lost Scott Rolen (after 2012). Everything went to s—. When Scott was there, we had guys doing exactly what they were supposed to do. After Scott left, we had guys with two years in the big leagues, in the clubhouse, on their phones, laying down in the video room, just hanging out during games, not in the dugout, not cheering their teammates on. Our dugout looked like a ghost town.After Bronson, the same exact thing. We had starters in there roping our (clubhouse attendants), like, cattle-roping our clubbies. Guys on their computers, buying stuff, hanging out in the clubhouse. We had a guy with a year-and-a-half in the big leagues wandering around the clubhouse, hanging out. We had a closer in there sleeping until the seventh inning. We lose that veteran leadership, that’s what happens. You can’t have that … it turns into a circus."

On Monday, the Reds addressed Latos’ comments. Here are a few of the best responses, via the Enquirer’s John Fay and C. Trent Rosecrans:

What do you make of Latos’ interview? One thing is certain: the Marlins’ visit to Cincinnati on June 19-21 just got a lot more interesting.