Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings June 23, 2015 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1963-The Reds complete a four-game sweep of Houston, allowing only one run. Jim O’Toole, Jim Maloney, Bob Purkey, Jim Tsitouris and Joe Nuxhall combined to pitch 32 consecutive scoreless innings. MLB.COM Suarez settling in to everyday role at short Newcomer getting comfortable following Cozart's injury By Robert Bondy / MLB.com CINCINNATI -- After a solid weekend with his bat and glove, it appears Eugenio Suarez is starting to come together nicely as the Reds' new everyday shortstop. Suarez, who was acquired by the Reds in an offseason trade with the Tigers, recorded hits in all three games against the Marlins, including a 3-for-4 performance on Sunday to help capture the series. Following the impressive weekend, Suarez is hitting .248/.324/.419 with one home run and five RBIs in the nine games. The 23-year-old was recalled from Triple-A Louisville on June 11 after Zack Cozart experienced a season-ending right-knee injury. Suarez played a similar role with the Tigers last year, appearing in 85 games as the injury replacement for Jose Iglesias. The transition early on was tough as Suarez was hitting only .150 in his first 20 at bats, but he said he's feeling more comfortable with the Reds. "It's hard because I got here and [there were] new things, new guys, nobody knows me," Suarez said. "Now, I know everybody and I got my family here, my heart here now. The first hard part is, like I said, nobody knows me here, but now I feel like family. Those guys are really good guys. [Joey] Votto, [Jay] Bruce, [Brayan] Pena, [Devin Mesoraco], everybody on this team is really good guys, really good teammates, good persons." Despite the lackluster start in the batter's box, Reds manager Bryan Price hadn't lost any confidence in Suarez. Price pointed out the number of at bats was a small sample size, and he likes the idea of being able to use Suarez in certain game situations, like laying down a perfect squeeze bunt on Wednesday against the Tigers to score Bruce from third base. "We had the squeeze the other day, which I thought wasn't an easy pitch. Breaking ball out over the plate and he got it down," Price said. "So those are the things he'll need to be able to do. He's going to need to be able to hit-and-run, get his bunts down and be a good situational offensive player. He's got enough power to be seduced by home runs, hitting home runs and [we] just got to keep him off that thought process of him thinking that he's got to be a big run-producing, home-run-hitting shortstop. He has to be an effective situational offensive player." Price also acknowledged Suarez's reliable defense in the field. Suarez has been perfect on all 40 defensive chances through nine games. His defensive ability was noticed on Sunday when he completed a perfect relay to throw out speedy Dee Gordon at the plate in the fifth inning. The play was crucial in keeping the game tied, as the Reds scored the game-winning runs the following inning. "We felt that when we traded for him he'd be a very, very good offensive performer and outstanding defensive player," Price said. "The defense has shown up every day, the offense is soon to follow. I think he looks very comfortable in our lineup, and he'll do a fine job." Reds push Cueto back; Smith to debut By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com / [email protected] / @m_sheldon CINCINNATI -- The Reds revised their starting rotation with an announcement on Monday that right-hander Josh Smith will be called up from Triple-A Louisville to start Tuesday vs. the Pirates in place of ace Johnny Cueto. Smith will be making his Major League debut. Following Smith for the rest of the Pittsburgh series will be Mike Leake on Wednesday and Anthony DeSclafani on Thursday. Cueto will pitch Friday's series opener vs. the Mets at Citi Field, followed by Michael Lorenzen and Smith. According to a team spokesperson, the change was made to give Cueto a couple of extra days of rest. But it was not specified if he was dealing with a health issue. Cueto missed a start last month after he experienced right elbow stiffness. The club also revealed that closer Aroldis Chapman is on paternity leave. In 13 starts combined this season with Louisville, Double-A Pensacola and Class A Dayton, Smith is 4-4 with a 3.04 ERA, 13 walks and 60 strikeouts over 74 innings pitched. Smith, 27, was a 21st-round selection by the Reds in the 2010 Draft. Reds sign second-round pick Santillan By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com / [email protected] / @m_sheldon CINCINNATI -- The Reds have agreed to terms with their 2015 second-round Draft pick, right-hander Antonio Santillan. A source confirmed to MLB.com on Monday that Santillan received a bonus worth $1.35 million. The 49th overall pick in the 2015 Draft, Santillan pitched for Seguin High School in Arlington, Texas. He was a Perfect Game first- team All-America selection and member of the Texas All-Region first team. A power pitcher listed between 230-240 pounds, the 18-year-old Santillan has a fastball that reaches 98 mph and a strong curveball. Santillan is represented by agent Scott Boras. Smith to debut vs. Locke as Reds, Bucs open set By Tom Singer / MLB.com Citing the need to give Johnny Cueto some additional rest, the Reds pushed their ace back to Friday after he was originally slated to start Tuesday's opener vs. the Pirates at PNC Park. In Cueto's place will be right-hander Josh Smith, who will be making his Major League debut. Southpaw Jeff Locke will be on the hill for the Pirates. The Bucs were on a 21-5 roll prior to getting swept out of Washington over the weekend, but they were in an offensive funk long before bottoming out in Max Scherzer's no-hitter on Saturday. Entering Sunday afternoon's game, the Pirates had scored 33 runs in their previous 13 games (one-third of those in an 11-0 blowout) while winning nine of them on the strength of fabulous pitching. Locke is coming off consecutive quality starts to oppose Smith in the opener of a six-game homestand. He has four quality starts in his eight outings against the Reds, but has not defeated them since July 21, 2013. Three things to know about this game: • The Pirates have reason to hope they will get well at home, as they have won 14 of their last 18 at PNC Park. • The Reds' Todd Frazier could be looking on this series as his own perfect storm. He is on fire anyway (23-for-60 with 14 RBIs in 14 games prior to Sunday), and always burns the Pirates (four homers already this season, 16 lifetime). • Pittsburgh pitchers have gone 60 consecutive innings at PNC Park without allowing a home run. CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Josh Smith to make MLB debut in Tuesday start for Reds By C. Trent Rosecrans / Cincinnati Enquirer / [email protected] / @ctrent The Reds will call up right-hander Josh Smith to pitch Tuesday's series opener in Pittsburgh and give extra rest to right-hander Johnny Cueto, who is scheduled to start Friday at New York, the team announced on Monday. Bryce Dixon, Cueto's agent, told The Enquirer in a text message that Cueto is fine. Cueto was scratched from his May 24 start with elbow stiffness, but returned to the field on June 2 after an MRI revealed no damage in the elbow. Closer Aroldis Chapman has been placed on paternity leave, making room for Smith on the roster. Mike Leake and Anthony DeSclafani will make their regular starts on Wednesday and Thursday, with Michael Lorenzen getting an extra day of rest before a start on Saturday. Smith is scheduled to stay in the rotation and also start Sunday against the Mets. Smith, 27, will be making his Major League debut. He was called up earlier this season, but did not make an appearance in his short time with the Reds. At Triple-A Louisville, Smith is 1-3 with a 3.56 ERA in eight starts. Overall, Smith is 4-4 with a 3.04 ERA in 13 starts between Class-A Dayton, Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Louisville. J.J. Hoover's gone from getting lit up to lights out By John Fay / Cincinnati Enquirer / [email protected] / @Johnfayman The simplest way to state how good Reds reliever J.J. Hoover has been this season is this: He's been a lot better than Aroldis Chapman. Hoover doesn't rush the ball up there at 103 mph like Chapman does. Hoover doesn't strike out a ton of batters like Chapman does. And Hoover doesn't pitch the ninth in save situations like Chapman does. But Hoover, the 27-year-old right-hander, has put up a long string of zeros since late April. He went into Monday's off day 5-0 with a 1.44 ERA. He has an active 13-appearance scoreless streak. He hasn't allowed an earned run since April 21. He gave up four runs and only recorded one out that day in a 16-10 win in Milwaukee. Those account for nearly all of his ERA.