Joey Votto Not In Lineup for Spring Training Opener

Spring training lineups don’t mean much, but when Jim Day of Fox Sports Ohio tweeted the lineup for the Cincinnati Reds’ opener against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday, there was one noticeable omission: first baseman Joey Votto.

Reds beat reporters Mark Sheldon and C. Trent Rosecrans later reported that Votto should be ready for action soon, but manager Bryan Price says he’s not quite up to game speed yet.

There shouldn’t be any real cause for concern here, as Votto said he simply needs more time to get ready for the season after missing so much time in 2014 with a quadriceps injury:

“I feel really good,” Votto said. “I was surprised at how good I feel this early. I’m trending towards starting to play in games, hopefully here in the not too distant future. I do feel like I need a little bit more time, but the time is not a bi-product of avoiding games or not being ready when I need to be ready. It’s just to make sure after taking what seems to be 10 months, eight months, or however long off from baseball that I play the game a little bit more to get ready and get the volume in and get the reps in.”

As 700 WLW’s Lance McAlister noted on Twitter, Votto hasn’t played in a game in 240 days, so it’s probably best for him to ease into action.

Non-roster invitee Josh Satin, who was signed by the Reds in November after spending four seasons with the New York Mets, is getting the start at first base.

The rest of the Reds lineup for the Tuesday’s game looks like this:

1. Billy Hamilton (CF)

2. Brandon Phillips (2B)

3. Todd Frazier (3B)

4. Devin Mesoraco (C)

5. Marlon Byrd (LF)

6. Jay Bruce (RF)

7. Zack Cozart (SS)

8. Donald Lutz (DH)

9. Josh Satin (1B)

Other news and notes from Monday:

• We already knew that Jason Marquis would get the start in the first spring training game, but we now know who will follow him. C. Trent Rosecrans tweeted that Keyvius Sampson, J.J. Hoover, Nathan Adcock, Pedro Villarreal, Daniel Corcino, and Matt Magill are scheduled to follow Marquis. Carlos Contreras and Ryan Dennick are also available, if needed.
• Per Mark Sheldon, starting pitcher Homer Bailey threw another bullpen session on Monday with no problems and has yet to rule out that he’ll be ready for Opening Day. Sheldon also mentions in the article that reliever Sean Marshall has resumed throwing, but it is still unknown when he’ll throw off of a mound.
• This news is a few days old at this point, but Sheldon reports that Bryan Price says that Eugenio Suarez was not brought in to compete with Zack Cozart for the starting shortstop job. I don’t see a huge problem with the comments, as a manager has to stick by his guys, but many thought Suarez could challenge Cozart this spring, especially after comments made by general manager Walt Jocketty in January:

“Cozart hasn’t had much competition in past years. He has to improve offensively to continue to be an everyday shortstop,” Jocketty said. “Defensively, he is as good as anyone in either league, but he needs to improve offensively.”