Cincinnati Reds: Three biggest stories through first week of spring games

1. Jose Garcia has arrived

Well, fans have been clamoring for Dick Williams and Nick Krall to find the Reds a shortstop. I think they’ve already got one. Jose Garcia has exploded onto the scene during the first week of Reds camp. The 21-year-old has flashed abilities that Reds Country hasn’t seen since Barry Larkin was in the organization.

Now, don’t get too excited, as Garcia is at least one, if not two years away from making his debut in the majors. Freddy Galvis, barring injury will be the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day starter at shortstop when the St. Louis Cardinals come to town on March 26th.

But, while unlikely to see the field at Great American Ball Park anytime soon, Garcia has certainly turned some heads. Garcia is 4-for-9 with a double, three homers and six RBIs. His OPS is sitting at 1.919. That’s unreal.

It’s also very early. But, Keith Law of The Athletic recently ranked Garcia as one of the Top 100 prospects in all of baseball. Law believes that once Garcia reaches the majors, he could hit 15-plus homers per season and hit for a high average.

The whole baseball world has taken note and Reds Country is excited to see what both Garcia and Cincinnati’s top catching prospect Tyler Stephenson can do. Stephenson is 3-for-7 this spring with a homer and two doubles.

2. The rotation is off to a good start

Luis Castillo didn’t get off to a hot start, but three of the Reds other starters already appeared to be in midseason form. While La Piedra struggled out of the gate, Anthony DeSclafani, Trevor Bauer and Sonny Gray all showed why Cincinnati may have the best rotation in the National League.

While it’s true that Luis Castillo didn’t even go a full inning in his first start this spring, the other core of the Cincinnati starting rotation has shown up in a big way this week. Wade Miley have yet to pitch this spring.

Gray went two innings on Wednesday, striking out three and keeping runs off the board. The right-hander allowed two hits. The following day saw two perfect innings from Bauer, going six up and six down while striking out two. Finally, Disco wrapped things up on Friday with an outstanding two innings, punching out two batters and not allowing a base runner.

We’re likely to see a few more starts from those three pitchers, plus another few starts from Castillo. Mahle and Miley will surely get some work in the coming weeks, and Vladimir Gutierrez, who’s likely to start in Triple-A, has seen action in three games thus far. Gutierrez has a 2.25 ERA through four innings of work.

Castillo will get a shot at redemption today when the right-hander takes the hill versus the San Diego Padres in Cactus League action. By the way, don’t get too caught up in Castillo’s spring numbers. La Piedra had an ERA 12.46 in four games last spring before putting on a show during the first month of the 2019 season.

3. The outfield is still unsettled

One of the biggest questions heading into spring training surrounded the plethora of outfielders. How was David Bell going to allocate time in order to get everyone the necessary number of at-bats during spring camp? The problem that Bell has is a good one, and one we’ll likely not find an answer for until the final week of spring training.

We already know that Shogo Akiyama, Nick Castellanos, and once healthy, Nick Senzel will be key pieces of the Reds outfield. However, how might the others lineup? Unfortunately, fans haven’t seen much of Jesse Winker after he was plunked during the first game of the spring. Winker returned to the lineup on Friday as the team’s designated hitter.

Aristides Aquino saw some time in center field and Phillip Ervin was scheduled to make a start there on Friday, but an illness suffered by Castellanos forced Ervin to right field and Travis Jankowski got the start in center.

Speaking of Ervin, the former first-round pick has picked up where he left off last spring. Ervin is 3-for-7 so far with a double, a home run and five RBIs. Last spring, Ervin dominated with an OPS of 1.429 but was still left off the Opening Day roster.

Akiyama got a hit in his first at-bat, but has gone 1-for-8 since. Senzel has yet to take the field this spring, but is expected to see time as Cincinnati’s DH this coming week. Aquino, who has one minor-league option remaining has gone 0-for-6 in the early-going with a walk and two strikeouts.

Look for Bell to insert the regulars into more games as the spring progresses. We may even see the likes of Josh VanMeter and Derek Dietrich get more time in the outfield. Michael Lorenzen has yet to make an appearance on the field as well, seeing time just once this spring as a reliever.