Cincinnati Reds'

CCIINNCCIINNNNAATTII RREEDDSS PPRREESSSS CCLLIIPPPPIINNGGSS MARCH 1,, 2014 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY: MARCH 1, 2007 – THE FATHER AND SON DUO, MARTY AND THOM BRENNAMAN, CALLED THEIR FIRST REDS GAME AS BROADCAST PARTNERS ON 700 WLW. THE TWO WORKED TOGETHER ONCE BEFORE ON A CUBS-REDS GAME IN THE EARLY 1990S FOR THE BASEBALL NETWORK. THEY BECAME THE FOURTH FATHER SON BROADCAST TEAM IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (JOE AND JOHN BUCK, HARRY, SKIP AND CHIP CARAY AND HARRY AND TODD KALAS). CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Intensity is always Tony Cingrani's specialty Cingrani has one speed, and that's going all out By C. Trent Rosecrans GOODYEAR, ARIZ. — Tony Cingrani gets angry every time he gives up a hit. It doesn’t matter if it’s a spring training exhibition game – like the one he will start Saturday against the Colorado Rockies – or against the St. Louis Cardinals. As the Reds’ second-year starter sees it, it’s his job to not give up any hits and if he gives up a hit, he didn’t do his job. That makes him angry – and like a famous fictional character, you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. “That’s how I get myself fired up. I need to throw harder, so I try to get super angry and throw it harder,” Cingrani said. “I’m not turning green – I’m trying to scare somebody and see what happens.” Cingrani’s intensity even turned into a meme among Reds fans, with the “Cingrani Face” becoming synonymous with an intense, scary mug. Cingrani said he saw that, and even chuckles quietly about it. But that’s him on the field in a nutshell. “(In spring training) you don’t really care about giving up hits and stuff, but I do, personally. Not stat-wise, I just don’t like giving up hits,” he said. “I don’t care (that the games don’t count), I don’t want to lose ever.” Cingrani said he’d always been competitive, but his junior college coach, Steve Ruzich, took it to a new level. At South Suburban College in the Chicago area, Ruzich drilled that competitive fire into his players, and nobody took to it quite like Cingrani. “His coach at Rice told me a story that when Tony first got there, the team was running poles, and he was busting from pole-to-pole and the coach overheard the other players tell him to take it easy,” Ruzich recalled. “He told me Tony looked at them and said, ‘I only have one speed.’ ” That one is full-speed ahead. Whether it’s the fastball he relies on while pitching or even his speedy stint through the minors, making his big-league debut in just his second season in the minors or his all-out hustle at the plate or on the bases. When Cingrani’s on a baseball field, he’s going full speed to the finish line, and he intends on being there first. “That’s how I’ve always been taught, that’s how my dad played the game, that’s how my dad’s lived his life,” said Cingrani, who grew up in the Chicago area. “I’ve always been shown work ethic and that’s how I grew up.” That work ethic led him to Detroit this offseason. While he’s from Chicago, played college ball in Texas and pitches professionally in Cincinnati, he found a trainer he liked in Detroit, so in typical Cingrani fashion, there was no half-measure. He spent his winter in Detroit, strengthening his core, hoping to put the back problems that shortened his 2013 rookie campaign behind him. “I’ve always had slight back issues, but I just did some random stuff last year with swinging and all that type of stuff. It compiled,” Cingrani said. “I guess I didn’t do my ab stuff right. It hit me that one game. I’ve had weird little things back there for awhile. It’s never anything bad. (This offseason) I just strengthened it, I just strengthened it a lot.” Cingrani is already penciled in to the fifth starter’s spot, a position he earned last season by stepping into the rotation when Johnny Cueto was hurt and performing spectacularly. Cingrani went 7-4 with a 2.92 ERA in 23 appearances, including 18 starts. As a starter, he had a 2.77 ERA and struck out 109 batters in 971⁄3 innings, striking out 3.03 batters per walk. Overall, batters hit just .196 with a .281 on-base percentage and a .368 slugging percentage against him. That’s one of the reasons Price is confident about his team – those numbers are from his fifth starter, something few teams can boast. “He’s a big part of what we’re doing,” Price said. “As much as we talk about Bronson (Arroyo) not being here, we have to talk equally as much about Tony being here because for a guy who pitched – his stuff and the way he was feeling deteriorated over the course of the year, and even when he wasn’t feeling good – and for the most part he kept that lower back issue under wraps, we didn’t know it was something ... over the course of the season through pitching, is he was really good.” Because the Reds play in Chicago and Milwaukee several times a year, Ruzich was able to see his star pupil in person several times. He was there June 11, Cingrani’s second start at Wrigley Field. In the first, then-Cubs left fielder hit Alfonso Soriano hit two homers off of Cingrani – and Ruzich knew the lefty would have something for Soriano this time. “I was watching the radar gun and he was consistently 92-93, and then Soriano comes up and it’s 96,” Ruzich said. “He remembers everything. He wanted to beat him.” And he did – striking him out twice as the Reds won 12-2. In the end, Cingrani is supremely confident in his abilities. Like in his first road start in 2013, when he got in a little bit of trouble in the fourth inning against the Nationals. After a passed ball put a runner on following a leadoff strikeout, Cingrani gave up a double, bringing up Bryce Harper with runners on second and third and no outs. He threw three straight fastballs by Harper, who took as big of swings as you could imagine. After walking the next batter to load the bases, he struck out the next two batters, recording four strikeouts in one inning. “Confidence helps you in anything you do in life, especially this,” Cingrani said. “You have to have confidence in what you do. I like pressure and all that type of stuff.” Homer Bailey struggles in first Spring Training outing By John Fay GOODYEAR, ARIZ. — Homer Bailey didn't feel like the $105 million man in his first appearance since signing his big contract. "Nah, not really," he said. "It felt the same as last year." He didn't pitch like it either. But he was OK with his first outing of the spring. He went two innings and allowed two runs - both on a home run by Ryan Raburn. "It was what I expected - just kind of off with everything," Bailey said. "I saw some good things, some not-so good things, things that need work." Bailey retired the first four hitters he faced, getting three ground balls. He then walked Lonnie Chisenhall. Bailey fell behind Raburn 3-1 before he hit a high shot out to left. "I threw two pitches for balls that we just off," he said. "In midseason, I'd make those pitches and get the ground ball I was looking for. One was a slider down and away and a two-seamer down and in. They missed by two inches. It's spring training. I'm not going to hit those every single time." Reds manager Bryan Price saw the same thing. "That's a common theme early in camp - just trying to get your delivery together," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "And it's adrenaline. I thought for the most part we were really good at that today." HEALING HANNAHAN: Utility player Jack Hannahan had offseason shoulder surgery. That's why he hasn't played in any games. The surgery, which happened right after last season, was never announced by the Reds. "He battled it last year," Price said. "He's going through rehab process. He's getting his swings, getting his ground balls, but he's still having to build up the throwing portion of the recovery. That's typically the big challenge in a shoulder surgery rehab. "He's progressing. I know he'd like it to go faster, but the shoulder, in particular, takes time." BROXTON UPDATE: Jonathan Broxton (elbow surgery) threw a 25-pitch bullpen on the Thursday. "He's progressing really well," Price said. "Talking about schedules is always a challenge. But he's had no setbacks. We've ramped up his throwing since he arrived in Goodyear. He's playing catch everyday. Now he's got two bullpens under his belt. He looks great, his delivery looks good. We're really happy he's progressing so well." Right now, Broxton is throwing bullpens every third day. They'll increase his pitch count and then have him throw every other day. That's the final step before getting into games. LATOS UPDATE: Mat Latos (knee surgery) continues to add activity. "His improvement has been substantial everyday," Price said.

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