Sweet Lou’s margarita advice

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, March 13, 2010, 03:42 PM

MESA, Ariz. - Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella never changes - and that’s a good thing.

The former Reds manager was at HoHoKam Park Sunday for a game against the Cincinnati Reds while half of his team was in Las Vegas for a split-squad game in Las Vegas. Asked why he wasn’t in Vegas, Piniella said, “Because I know I’m keeping about $2,000 or $3,000 in my pocket.”

Piniella recommended a Mexican restaurant in Scottsdale - couldn’t remember the name other than, “It is about a block north of Camelback Road on Scottsdale Road,” and that it has wonderful margaritas. I tell my players about drinking margaritas down here, “Drink one, sip the second one and refuse the third one.”

On a serious note, Piniella asked how new Reds pitching coach Brian Price is doing and said, “I had him as a coach. A great guy, very articulate, very smart - a University of California graduate. He’ll do a great job for the Reds.”

Price was pleased to hear Piniella’s words and said, “I worked with him in Seattle from 2000 to 2002 and it was a pleasure. Lou and I were tight, very close. I heard a lot about how rough he was on his pitching coaches, but I didn’t see that. I loved his intensity in the dugout. He is a quality manager and a quality man.”

SCOTT ROLEN was supposed to play today, but was left back in Goodyear to rest. His replacement, Juan Francisco, homered in the second inning and homered again in the fourth. Rolen isn’t hurt.

“Scott has been playing a lot, plus we have tough schedule this week,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We have a ‘B’ game tomorrow in addition to an ‘A’ game and everybody is going to play, we have a trip to Tucson (two-hour bus ride) Tuesday and a split-squad day-night doubleheader Wednesday. And then we have Investors’ Week.”

Francisco’s two homers were torched and Baker said, “Francisco came out of it in a big way. That’s a strong young man and when he hits ‘em he really hits ‘em.”

CEO Bob Castellini brings all the minority owners to famp for fun and games, “A lot of playing and entertaining at the same time,” said Baker.

BAKER’S take on the calendar down here: “I never know what day it is. All the days are just alike. You play every day and everything is the same.”

BARRY LARKIN is in camp for the next 10 days as a guest instructor and was proud to put on his old Cincinnati uniform No. 11.

“I had an opportunity to play for the Washington Nationals in 2005 and when I saw Larkin and ‘11’ on the back of their uniform I told them, ‘I can’t put this uniform on.’ I couldn’t do it.”

“They had the uniform hanging in a locker and I went up there to Vierra, Fla. and sat in my locker and looked at it and said, ‘Hmmm, something is just not right about this.’

Larkin played shortstop 19 seasons for the Reds and was the last player to wear the captain’s wishbone-C on his chest.

Larkin’s 17-year-old son, Shane, is a highly-recruited basketball plaer, 6-0 point guard. “And what makes me really proud is that he is being recruited by Harvard, Cal-Berkley and Stanford,” said Larkin.

THE REDS first experience of the spring against the Chicago Cubs, a fellow NL Central occupant, was not pleasant.

After leading 3-0 and 4-1, the Reds were ripped, 11-4. Micah Owings gave up a three-run home run and Jon Adkins gave up five runs and seven hits in one-plus innings.

ON THE POSITIVE side, Homer Bailey held the Cubs to one run and three hits in his three innings in front of 11,825. His first two starts this spring were in an intrasquad game and in a ‘B’ game attended by zero fans.

“I’m under the radar,” Bailey said with a smile. “Chapman is going through a lot (as Bailey did) and throwing really well. That’s good to see. I don’t know what the plans are for that fifth spot in the rotation and it’s none of my business.

“But, if not this year, definitely he is going to help this team out very soon,” said Bailey, who helped this team out in the second half of last season with a 6-1 record and 1.70 earned run average over his last nine start.

“Homer threw the ball excellently - good velocity, good location,” said manager Dusty Baker. “He was throwing as well as I’ve seen him. After that, it got rough for us.”

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Why is somebody from Cuba named Chapman?

By Hal McCoy | Friday, March 12, 2010, 06:16 PM

PHOENIX, Ariz. -Every time Aroldis Chapman sneezes, a writer is close enough to say, “Bless you,” even though Chapman doesn’t understand a word of it.

Through interpreter Tony Fossas, the Dayton Dragons pitching coach, Chapman was asked if he is already tired of the attention and he said, clearing in English (which in this case also was Spanish), “No, no, no.”

Catcher Ramon Hernandez heard it and said, “He doesn’t understand English so he has no idea what is going on around him.”

Manager Dusty Baker made a solid point about the 22-year-old lefthanded Cuban defector: “If he didn’t sign for all that money ($30.25 million), nobody would know about him or be paying attention to him.”

Well, maybe. Maybe not.

When you throw 100 miles an hour fastballs, 90 miles an hour sliders and 80 miles an hour change-ups, it is hard not to gather notice.

Chapman pitched two more scoreless innings (two infield hits, two strikeouts, 35 pitches, 20 strikes) as the Cincinnati Reds beat a Los Angeles Dodgers split squad, 3-2.

What was impressive is that in his second inning, Chapman faced three Dodgers regulars. Andre Ethier fouled out on the second pitch. Matt Kept swung and missed a 3-and-2 change-up. Casey Blake took a 3-and-2 change-up for strike three, a change-up thrown so hard that most thought it was a 90 miles an hour slider.

Impressive.

OK, QUICK question. How can a Cuban be named Chapman?

“My ancestors are from Jamaica and moved to Cuba,” said Chapman. OK, mon, so who in Jamaica is named Chapman. I digress.

Chapman fiddled and fuddled with his breaking pitches, sliders, most of the day and showed frustration and irritation at times Friday.

“Personally, I felt good, but I missed a couple of pitches that I was trying to put over the plate but they went the other way,” he said. “The last couple of games I have not used the break ball at all, so I wanted to throw more on the last couple of hitters so I could work on them.”

AND SPEAKING of attentive media, mostly out-of-town guys seem intent on trying to get manager Dusty Baker to commit to sticking Chapman in the rotation and he won’t bite.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The main thing is we have to keep him in the rotation and see how he does. See how he is because we don’t really know what we have yet.

“Possibly everybody is getting ahead of themselves with this kid,” Baker added. With what Chapman has done so far, mainly spin the dials on radar guns, Baker was asked if he understands the super-hype and the massive attention.

“Yeah, I understand it,” Baker said. “But I don’t have to adhere to it. First, we want him to fit in with the guys. We got him to pitch and let’s let him pitch right now.”

JONNY GOMES hit a two-run homer, his second this spring (Shouldn’t he be the starting left fielder, left handed pitcher or right handed pitcher?) and Chris Heisey cracked a solo shot for the three Reds runs and a 3-0 lead trudging into the ninth. But Carlos Fisher gave up two in the ninth and Justin Smith came on with the tying run on first and got the last out.

Bronson Arroyo got the win with three scoreless innings as the starter.

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Arroyo sings but he doesn’t strum

By Hal McCoy | Friday, March 12, 2010, 02:53 PM

PHOENIX, Ariz. - Bronson Arroyo sang six songs at Woodjock Thursday night in Scottsdale, but he did NOT play the guitar.

And he wants to emphasize that to Cincinnati Reds CEO Bob Castellini, “I did NOT play the guitar. And I didn’t even want to play the guitar.”

Arroyo and the Reds traced a bout with carpal tunnel syndrome in his pitching wrist last spring to plunking guitar strings.

“If somebody had got me on film playing the guitar, Mr. Castellini would have called me to his Sanctuary (Castellini’s Phoenix resort) and thrown me off the top of a cliff behind his house, I might not have been able to come back.”

Woodjock was a charity event put on by pitcher Jake Peavy with major-leaguers performing. “I sang four of my songs and two that Barry Zito and Brian Meadows were supposed to sing, but didn’t. Zito plays the drums now.”

Arroyo laughed and said, “Zito, Peavy and I all pitch today, so we’ll see if we can get anybody out.”

DODGER GENERAL MANAGER Ned Colletti is in Phoenix while half the Dodgers are in Taiwan for a three-game exhibition series. Asked why he isn’t in Taiwan, Colletti said, “I’m good a multi-tasking, but I’m not good at multi-continents. Besides, we played Kansas City the other day and do you want me to miss that?”

NICK JONAS of the Jonas Brothers, dressed in Dodgers uniform No. 92, took batting practice today (welcome to Hollywood South). Not a bad stroke. But he took heavy ribbing when he broke his bat. Asked if Jonas is a prospect, Colletti said, “Depends on what field you’re talking about?”

FORMER REDS infielder Mariano Duncan is a coach with the Dodgers and looks as if he could still hlit .300. “Not me, he said. “My time is over.”

When Duncan played for the Reds, they often did calisthenics in the clubhouse and had to clear writers out of their way. It was always Duncan who yelled, “Hey, writers. I love you guys, but get the hell out.”

FORMER REDS Barry Larkin and Sean Casey are in camp for a few days as guest instructors. Joe Morgan was in camp for a day earlier this spring.

“Larkin knows when to go after people and when to lay back,” said manager Dusty Baker. “Nice to see him and Sean Casey in camp. That’s all part of the rebuilding process around here.

“How many guys get to be around players who they tried to play like when they were kids, like Brandon Phillips?” asked Baker. “Larkin was Brandon’s childhood idol. “We have Larkin, Casey, Cesar Geronimo, George Foster, Morgan, Mario Soto, Jim Maloney, Tom Browning and Jack Billingham hanging around at different times. If they can say or do one thing, it might help a get a kid’s career jump-started or help them figure it out.”

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Just call him Yonder from “The U”

By Hal McCoy | Thursday, March 11, 2010, 10:55 AM

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Yonder Alonso is one of those guys who is very proud to come from the University of Miami, one of those guys who refers to the school as “The U” and expects everybody to know what that means.

Alonso, who ripped a long double up the left field gap Wednesday against the Angels, sent a text this morning to Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun with the message, “We’re going to mess you up today.”

Braun also is a product of ‘The U,’ but if the Reds do “mess up” the Brewers today it will be without Braun. He didn’t make the 15-minute bus trip from Maryvale.

IN SEATTLE there is a Starbuck’s on every corner. In Boston, there is a Dunkin’ Donuts on every corner. In Phoenix, there is a Mexican restaurant on every corner and tonight I am going to try one that comes highly recommended from broadcaster Marty Brennaman: “The best Mexican restaurant ever.”

It’s called called Raul & Teresa’s and it sits in the middle of nowhere at the base of the Estrella Mountains just a couple of miles from here. Like most good Mexican restaurants it is not much more than a hole in the wall and you enter through a pair of swinging half-doors like you see in western movies. Think I’ll have me a sarsaparilla or two.

TODD FRAZIER got hit in the buttocks with a pitch Wednesday in Tempe by lefthander Trevor Reckling, a fellow New Jersey native. Lefthanded teammate Aroldis Chapman drilled Frazier last week in an intrasquad game.

“They just scrubbed the target off my back,” said Frazier. “What is it with lefthanders and me? With the one yesterday I didn’t know what to do. That one came whizzing through the batter’s box.”

A couple of days ago manager Dusty Baker called Frazier, Juan Francisco, Chris Heisey and Yonder Alonso into his office for a chit-chat, telling them to relax and quit trying to make the team with one swing of the bat.

“Basically, he just told us to relax — which is the name of the game, man,” said Frazier. “We’re playing baseball, a game we love and enjoy, and that makes tons of sense. You just want to make an impact and when you are relaxed and having fun, that’s what is going to happen. I’m having so much fun. This is great.”

THE REDS made their first cuts of the spring, trimming four non-roster invitees - catcher Chris Denove, catcher Brandon Yarbrough, Dutch pitcher Alexander Smit and pitcher Jose Arredondo and outfielder Danny Dorn.

Dorn, though, made an impression on Baker during a stint at first base. “He impress me,” said Baker. “Right now it is a matter of numbers and how much playing time he was going to get. He recognized pitches as quickly as any of the young players we have here. Plus, he big-time got better at first base.

“He told me he hadn’t play first base before, other than a little bit in high school,” Baker added. “That’s a little strange for a guy who is lefthanded, but he said he played corner outfield all the time. He said in high school they had another lefthanded kid who could super hit but couldn’t play any other position but first base.”

BRONSON ARROYO is supposed to sing tonight at Woodjock in Scottsdale, a charity event put on by pitcher Jake Peavy. Former Yankee Bernie Williams is scheduled to sing, too.

Well, obviously Arroyo practiced too much. His voice was scratchy this morning and he was trying not to talk and said, “I’m trying to save my voice, man.”

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Leake, Phillips plus some controversy

By Hal McCoy | Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 02:52 PM

TEMPE, Ariz. — MIke Leake is a first-round draft pick from last June and pretty much has been ignored by the media this spring, not hounded as are most No. 1s, probably because of the heavily focused attention on Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman.

And that’s OK with Leake, although Reds manager Dusty Baker says, “He isn’t one that needs much attention.”

Just a couple of blocks away from Tempe Diablo Stadium, about five minutes by fast car with no traffic, Leake pitched for Arizona State University, compiling a 40-6 record.

He is scheduled to pitch today for the Cincinnati Reds, and before the game he was leaning on the dugout railing. Somebody said, “You’re probably pretty big around here, aren’t you?” He smiled and said, “Like Godzilla.”

About that time, a fan wearing an Arizona State sweat shirt and ASU hat yelled, “Hey, Mike. Go get ‘em!”

OF LEAKE, Baker said, “He has that quiet confidence. He has a great idea about how to pitch at such a young age (22). He has great command of the strike zone. I remember talking to Bob Welch (former Dodgers, A’s pitcher) who saw him at ASU and he told me, ‘You’re going to like this young man. He keeps that cheese around the knees.’

“What I’ve noticed about him is that unlike most young guys he recognized very quickly how a hitter reacts to a certain pitch,” Baker added. “He doesn’t throw a fastball past a hitter then come in with a breaking pitch to let a hitter catch up. Nor does he throw a breaking pitch that a hitter is way out in front of then come back with a fastball that enables the hitter to adjust.”

Asked about Leake being able to hide behind Chapman, Baker said, “I don’t think he is an attention guy. I talked to Bronson Arroyo and he said, ‘I like this guy and I haven’t even seen him pitch yet.’ “

THERE WAS no infield practice in Tempe Diablo Stadium before Wednesday’s game and second baseman Brandon Phillips said, “Oh, great. We don’t get to see how the ball bounces on this field? They don’t call it Diablo Stadium for nothing.”

I had two years of Spanish at Kent State University, back in the Dark Ages just after they quit calling it Kent State Normal College, but I had to ask C. Trent Rosecrans of Cnati.com what it meant.

He told me, “Devil.” Oh.

Phillips, an avid bowler, went bowling Sunday after a game with Milwaukee was rained out. Said the man who has three 300 games, “I bowled 225 and 205, then we had a little family match and they made me bowl between my legs. I bowled 154.”

SAW MY first body of water in Arizona today — a large mud puddle in the center field parking lot. Of course, I stepped in it.

A BIT OF controversy today that Baker wouldn’t step into. Baker and several other baseball people were involved in a round-table discussion recently in Scottsdale about what can be done to improve the game.

Torii Hunter of the Angels was involved in the discussion, and some time during the night a comment was made about Dominican and Latin American players. Somebody allegedly said something about Dominicans not really being blacks and Hunter, an African American, added a comment, but it was Hunter who was quoted in a newspaper story.

Hunter was livid Wednesday in the Angels camps and several writers asked Baker about it.

“I was there at the round table, but I left before that subject came up,” said Baker. “Torii is one of the most respected guys in the game by all races. I hope he is making light of their situation and it came out wrong or was interpreted wrong. I know Torii pretty well and he has a lot of Latin American friends.

“You hate to see any division of the races in baseball,” Baker added. “Especially in this world today. Torii is usually one of the guys who brings people of all races together. Like everything else, this too shall pass.”

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No need to worry: Harang, Baker

By Hal McCoy | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 10:01 PM

Color me confused and I prefer fuschia or chartreuse, the colors I preferred in my leisure suits back in the 1970s.

What’s up with Aaron Harang? I know, I know. It is ONLY spring training and that was only Harang’s second appearance this spring when he couldn’t make it out of the second inning Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He was supposed to pitch three innings, but only made it through 1 1/3 because he reached his limit of 50 pitches at that juncture, using 28 in the first inning.

At this time of spring training, it is always the same. A pitcher who can’t retire his Aunt Matilda says, “I was just working on things.” Or he says, “I’m just trying to build my arm strength.” Or he says, “I’m just getting in my work and I’m not worried about results.”

They all say it and Harang said it Tuesday after giving up three runs, four hits and a walk while retiring only four batters.

HE IS WORKING on his new mechanics, some tweaking in his delivery after he lost 32 games in the last two years.

Nobody loves Aaron Harang more than I do - a great guy, never makes excuses, takes the ball without question at any time, loves his wife and kids. What more can one ask?

BUT DOESN’T he worry you Reds fans? He should. This is going to be the Opening Day starter against the St. Louis Cardinals and so far this spring he has had two putrid performances.

Both Harang and manager Dusty Baker were happy with the way the baseball was coming out of Harang’s hand. “Nice and smooth.” Apparently, the Cleveland Indians (his first opponent) and the Diamondbacks were happy with the way it came out of his hand and sped to the outfield.

With Harang, I’m more than willing to give him the benefit of doubt after doubt after doubt. He’s earned it. But he is also ultra-important to the success or failure of this team, a team that can’t take another 16 defeats from its No. 1 pitcher.

I’ll let you listen to what Harang and Baker said after the Reds lost, 10-4, to the D-Backs, their third loss in four games. Does it soothe your nerves? Not mine.

“I didn’t want to come out of the game that early, but what it came down to was pitch count,” said Harang. “I was throwing some good pitches early-on, but they were working the count. It’s tough when you get behind in the count and have to come in to them. Doesn’t make it any easier.

“I’d get ahead and miss up, or pull a slider and bury it too much,” he said. “It’s still early-on and nothing I’m concerned too much about. Of course, with this weather (54 degrees), it felt like last April in Cincinnati,” Harang said with a laugh.

Working on mechanics, Aaron?

:”Yeah, overall I’m happy with it, but I have to do more with my arm slot and I have to do some fine-tuning,” he said. “From the way I’ve pitched all along to making some mechanical adjustments doesn’t work overnight. I still have some things to work on, but that’s what spring is for right now.

“The ball felt as if it was coming out free and easy, but I was just missing,” he added. “It’s still a long spring and the biggest thing is to build the pitch count right now.”

See what I mean? A dictionary of a pitcher’s spring cliches.

“I’m not really concerned with the outcome, but Dusty was happy and (pitching coach) Bryan Price was happy with the way the ball was coming out,” he said. “The adjustments? I’m loading up a little bit longer, striding out to really drive toward the plate by lengthening my stride six or seven inches from what it was last year.”

OK, so what did Baker say?

“The ball was coming out his hand well today,” he said. “He was getting two strikes on most everybody, but just couldn’t put them away with that third strike. He threw the ball well, but centered his pitches too much when he had two strikes. The main thing is we’re pleased with the way the ball is coming out of his hands, giving him better velocity and better rhythm and tempo. He’ll be all right. He looked pretty good.”

I’m no pitching coach and I’ll defer to Harang and Baker and Price, but sometime soon he needs to pitch some clean innings to soothe the angst of fans all over the Tri-State, some of whom are now saying, “Why didn’t they trade him to the Los Angeles Dodgers this winter when they had the chance?”

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Random thoughts while trying to stay warm

By Hal McCoy | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 10:53 AM

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Some not-so-clear thoughts after the daily 8 a.m. meeting in manager Dusty Baker’s office, attended usually by five or six bleary-eyed reporters:

IT IS 52 degrees with a threat of more rain as I put this blog together at 9 a.m.

A writer approached Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty and Jocketty said, “You need a tan.”

Said the writer, “Where am I going to get one?”

“At a tanning booth,” said Jocketty.

NEW SHORTSTOP Orlando Cabrera laughed to himself during Monday’s exhibition game in the second inning against the Kansas City Royals when Cuban Aroldis Chapman cranked off a couple of pitches at 100 miles or hour (one gun said 102).

“Chapman told me before the game that he heard people say he didn’t throw so hard in the intrasquad game, so he was going to throw a couple of pitches real hard against Kansas City,” said Cabrera. “Wow, did he ever?”

This from the chart of a scout on a string of Chapman pitches Monday: 97 fastball, 102 fastball, 98 fastball, 98 fastball, 80 change-up, 90 slider, 100 fastball.

MANAGER DUSTY BAKER on ‘B’ games played early in the morning: “If you can play at 9:30 in the morning, you can play at any time. And while those games don’t mean anything on the statistical sheets, they mean a lot to us. We’re watching them closely.”

STILL LOOKING for good non-franchise places to eat around Goodyear. Found a decent Italian place at the corner of Indian School Road (quaint name, huh) and Litchfield called Bella Luna. Had some veal that I could have cut with my ball point pen.

Found a decent place called McGrath’s Seafood, but it could be a franchise joint. I’ve never seen one anywhere else. Very affordable. I had a bowl (bowl, not cup) of delicious New England clam chowder, a salad and scallops on a skewer for $20.

BAKER HAD some good words about non-roster pitcher Phillipe Valiquette, a 23-year-old lefthanded pitcher from Montreal. He attended the same high school as Eric Gagne, Edouard Monpetit High School, where he helped lead his team to the Canadian championships in both his junior and senior season.

Valiquette, a seventh-round pick in 2004, spent his first four years in Class A and started his fifth year last season at Class A Sarasota, He was 1-1 with a 2.29 ERA in 17 games and was promoted to Class AA Carolina, where he was 1-1 with a 2.75 ERA over 27 games - all out of the bullpen.

With his glasses and stern demeanor, Valiquette looks more like a stock broker than a strike maker.

“He has good stuff, really good stuff,” said Baker. “He wants it badly, is very confident. He gets frustrated quickly because he does have such confidence and aspirations.”

The frustrations showed in his ‘B’ game appearance Monday against Milwaukee when his teammates kicked the ball around for three errors that led to a stack of unearned runs.

“It’s a matter of him finding a consistent release point and finding the plate,” Baker said. “Like a lot of young players, most pitchers are signed not as a finished product, but what they might be. I hear he has come a long way from when he first got here. He’s French Canadian, so he probably didn’t play a whole lot.”

JOSH ANDERSON is a non-roster player who is in the mix for left field, although he is less of an ingredient in that mix than, say, Jonny Gomes or Chris Dickerson.

Anderson played in Monday’s ‘B’ game and led the first inning with a single, then stole second and stole third.

“He has some skill,” said Baker. “He can run, he can throw, he is a good fielder. He’s a line drive hitter - but there is still a lot there that hasn’t been brought out yet.”

Anderson, 27, has already logged major-league time with Houston, Atlanta, Detroit and Kansas City. He stole 57 bases his senior year at Eastern Kentucky University and was the first EKU player ever named to the Louisville Slugger All-America team.

REDS OPENING DAY starter Aaron Harang stood near a fence chatting with Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin during the ‘B’ game.

“Well, I guess, from what I read everywhere, it’s the Cardinals and the Cubs in our division and nobody else,” said Melvin with a sly grin.”

Harang answered with six words: “We’ll see. We’ll see about that.” As Harang walked away, Melvin said, “Good luck this year - except when you pitch against us.”

OK, I’VE GONE to the dark side. I’m tweeting (not twittering?). Check me out at FSOhioHalMcCoy.

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Chapman hits 102 (maybe) … 100 (for sure)

By Hal McCoy | Monday, March 8, 2010, 01:31 PM

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Homer Bailey throws two perfect innings during an early-morning ‘B’ game before the frozen dew thaws and that isn’t big news.

Bronson Arroyo throws two perfect innings in the ‘A’ game under cloudy skies and a chill breeze and that isn’t big news, either.

Two words. Aroldis Chapman.

Chapman gave up a hit and a walk, but he had the scouts behind the plate banging their radar guns with their fists to make sure the numbers weren’t stuck. One scout recorded a Chapman fastball at 102 miles an hour. One-oh-two. And the same scouts had him throwing another pitch at 100.

Several scouts caught the 100 reading, but only one had the 102 recording.

Chapman, facing major-league hitters for the first time, gave up no runs and struck out three — 26 pitches, 15 strikes.

THE HIT came off the bat of Kansas City catcher Bryan Pena, a fellow Cuban and friend. Pena was Chapman’s catcher during Chapman’s tryout for major-league teams in Arizona in December. And the two will have dinner together tonight,.

BAILEY APPEARS to have packed his new, improved version and shipped it with him to not-so-sunny (and cold) Arizona. But it’s a dry cold, right?

Bailey pitched in a 9:30 a.m. ‘B’ game today and pitched just the way he pitched in his last nine starts of 2009. He faced the Kansas City Royals on Field One at Goodyear Ballpark - witnessed only by a gaggle of Major League scouts, plus Reds and Brewers officials and the media - and went six up and six down, with three strikeouts.

One of the strikeouts was on the split-fingered fastball he added to his repertoire last season.

Bailey, only 23 and pitching in his fourth major-league season, was 6-1 with a 1.70 ERA in his last nine starts of 2009 and it looks as if it is carrying over. He gets it.

“The thing I’m seeing with Homer is that he has learned that he has a routine,” said manager Dusty Baker. “That’s why he preferred to pitch in the ‘B’ game, so he could get into his routine as a starter. They say sameness is greatness. He is into a regimen and that wasn’t really Homer in the past. That shows he is very serious and is interested in being good in this game.

“He’s a man now, he has grown up,” said Baker. “I mean, as we have talked about, he has been around a long time and he is only 23. Where were you at 23 - probably still hanging in a bar somewhere?”

Yikes. So now Baker is doing background checks on writers?

“We expect a lot of things out of people just because they’ve been around a long time or have a lot of money,” said Baker. “Remember, they are not being paid to be mature, they’re being paid to pitch well. I’ve seen a lot of very good pitchers who aren’t mature. But you hope they mature and Homer has.”

AFTER HIS outing, Bailey said his mission today was, “To keep the ball down, get my form and it was good to work with (catcher) Ryan Hanigan. I did keep the ball down and my secondary pitches (slider, split) were pretty good.”

Bailey laughed when asked about the new split-finger and how much better it should be this year now that he has worked with it. “There’s no telling. It may get worse.”

Doubtful.

“It has come along pretty good, like all my other pitches, even though it’s fairly new,” said Bailey. “It was comfortable for me to learn and now I use it as just any other pitch.”

AND ABOUT developing a routine, Bailey said, “I was going to throw after Bronson Arroyo in the ‘A’ game and I volunteered to start the early-morning game so I can get used to the time I need to be stretched, what time I need to be out there, what time I need to start throwing in a bullpen to warm up - all the things you do before starting a game. It’s all about preparing to start a game, which is as important as anything.”

See? Classic maturity.

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Del Rosario’s background helps him mature

By Hal McCoy | Monday, March 8, 2010, 10:45 AM

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Enerio Del Rosario speaks no English, but that doesn’t mean he and fellow Dominican Pedro Viola don’t understand what it takes to catch a manager’s eye when they aren’t on the pitching mound breaking off knee-buckling sliders and slinging searing fastballs.

Manager Dusty Baker notices that when the pitchers run, Del Rosario and Viola are always at the front of the pack, start to finish, like a pair of Kenyan marathoners.

“I was talking to (Dominican roving pitching instructor) Mario Soto and he was telling me that Del Rosario was close to being sent home, sent back to poverty (in El Seibo, D.R.),” said Baker. “And then Tom Brown dropped him down and he played rookie ball for three years.”

Then, as Baker likes to say: “Bam.”

“He went from A ball to AA ball to AAA ball in one year (2009), just like that,” Baker added. Del Rosario, a 24-year-old thermometer-thin 6-2, 165-pound lefthanded relief pitcher, started last season at Class A Sarasota. When he went 2-1 with a 1.98 ERA in 31 games, he was boosted to Class AA Carolina.

He was only in the Southern League for four games and posted a 1.59 ERA (no walks, nine strikeouts) and was zipped up to Class AAA Louisville, where he finished the season by splicing a 1-0 record and a 1.09 ERA in 15 games.

“Here he is now and I see one of the hardest-working guys in camp,” said Baker. “Those are the kinds of things that impress you, you know these guys are hungry.”

That’s literally and figuratively.

Del Rosario’s name came up after Baker was describing how players mature and develop in different ways.

“You hope their arm remains strong when their head catches up to their arm,” said Baker. “If you can do that, then you have action. Sometimes you don’t figure it out until you get sent home when you’re playing in a beer league someplace. I tell our guys just don’t be one of those gimme-another-chance guy.

“We tend to want our players to grow up super fast, instead of just growing up,” said Baker. “You try to help ‘em grow up and mature. But a lot of it depends on where you are from, your background, your family structure, the importance of your family, like if you might have been the bread winner at 16 or you were never the bread winner.

“There are a lot of factors here with guys from different places and different senses of responsibilities,” Baker added. “I was forced to grow up quicker than I wanted to because my parents go divorced when I was 16 and I was the oldest of five.

“Things change kind of quickly out there, you know,” Baker added. “They all have a story. We all have a story.”

YES, THEY ALL have a story, especially Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman, who pitches this afternoon in an exhibition game against the Kansas City Royals. He signed a $30.25 million contract with the Reds this year and came to the United States. Since then, he has become a father and has not seen his child, who is back in Cuba.

ONE OF the comments on this blog yesterday admonished me for complaining about the weather. Just reporting the facts, sir, just the facts. And it is raining again today and it is cold.

You know they aren’t accustomed to chilly weather in these parts. National baseball writer Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post forgot to bring a jacket and tried to find one, “But they didn’t have any at Wal-Mart or Target,” he said.

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So it DOES rain in Arizona

By Hal McCoy | Sunday, March 7, 2010, 03:24 PM

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - One of the selling points for the Cincinnati Reds to move their spring training headquarters from Florida to Arizona was that somebody told them it never rains in Arizona. Isn’t that supposed to be Southern California?

Anyway, today was Sunday. And it rained. It rained last Sunday and the Sunday before that. In fact, it has rained every Sunday since the Reds opened for business in their new mansion-like estate in Goodyear.

This rain caused the cancellation of an exhibition game today in Maryvale against the Milwaukee Brewers. When somebody told manager Dusty Baker it has rained every Sunday, he said, “Sounds like the name of a good song - It Never Rains In Arizona Except On Sunday, a good blues tune or a Van Morrison tune.”

So the Reds have played two games and had one rained out. In their last six years in Sarasota, Fla., the Reds had two games rained out.

To make up for lost action, the Reds and Brewers scheduled a ‘B’ game for 9:30 (Mountain time) in the morning and Homer Bailey will pitch.

Bronson Arroyo was scheduled to pitch today, but he’ll be moved back to this afternoon’s 1:30 game against Kansas City. After Arroyo’s two innings, Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman makes his exhibition-game debut, probably in front of a large national media audience.

Asked if Chapman might be nervous pitching in The Big Arena for the first time, Baker smiled and said, “Why? This kid has pitched in front of the world (World Baseball Classic) and pitched for food. Why would he be nervous pitching a spring exhibition game?”

And Arroyo doesn’t mind the inconvenience. It’s actually a convenience - he doesn’t have to make a bus trip. “I get to pitch at home,” he said. “Let’s hope I go two innings, six-up and six-down - although I doubt that.”

Arroyo hates pitching in day games and nearly all games in Arizona after day affairs and he said, “As long as I get a couple hours of sleep I’ll be OK.”

OK, SO DO YOU want to get into the newspaper? I need Ask Hal questions for my Sunday feature in the Dayton Daily News. Ask about anything. Type ‘em nicely, sign your first name and where you are from and e-mail them to halmccoy@hotmail.com.

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