All eyes are on phenom

[The Entertainer]

[quote][size=3][b]All eyes are on phenom[/b][/size]

BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM


SARASOTA, Fla. Homer Bailey's spring training roommate, John Purdom, showed up the other day.

Purdom lives in Cincinnati.

"He told me you wouldn't believe how often I have to look at your ugly face in the Cincinnati newspapers," Bailey said.

The Reds have begun full-squad workouts. Call it "Camp Homer."

There is no player in camp who is getting more attention than Bailey. There is no player who carries higher expectations. And there is no player more important to the future of the franchise.

Bailey, who doesn't turn 21 until May 3, shrugs off all of it.

"I don't feel any pressure," he said. "I really don't pay attention to it."

But people like Purdom, a minor-league catcher who attended Sycamore High, reminds Bailey of it from time to time.

The 6-feet-4, 205-pound Bailey has gotten unprecedented attention in Cincinnati because of his promise as a player. He's well known in baseball circles. Depending on who is doing the list, he's ranked as the No. 1 or 2 pitching prospect in all of baseball. There's debate whether he or Phillip Hughes, a New York Yankee prospect, is No. 1. But virtually no one has Bailey any worse than second.

Reds radio play-by-play man Marty Brennaman calls Bailey the best pitching prospect he's seen in his 33 years with the club.

Bailey has the nonchalant way of the Texas farm boy that he is. But he also exudes a certain confidence.

"I don't think (the attention) concerns him," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "I think he knows he's pretty good. I think he's smart enough to know that he's not going to come to the major-league level and just dominate from the beginning. There's going to be some ups and downs.

"He's very, very level-headed. He works hard. He's got great stuff. It's going to give him every chance in the world to be successful."

The big question is when the Reds will bring Bailey to the big leagues. He's had only two full professional seasons. Three years ago at this time, he was pitching LaGrange High School to the Texas state championship.

But his dominance at Double-A last year had the Reds' front-office executives talking about bringing Bailey to the big leagues. Bailey is theoretically competing for the fifth spot in the starting rotation this spring. But there's a lot of sentiment in the front office to start him at Triple-A Louisville.

"He's got a chance to be great," said Mario Soto, a Reds Hall of Famer. "If they need somebody this year, he's ready. I pitched A ball, went to Triple-A for a couple of months and then pitched in the big leagues."

Soto was the last dominant right-handed starting pitcher the Reds have developed. He retired in 1988. The club has been hoping to find someone like Bailey since.

"It's exciting for the fans, because quite frankly there hasn't been someone in the Reds organization come along like this as a starting pitcher in a long time," Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky said. "But a certain amount of patience is required. You want to put the guy in the right spot to have success."

When will that be?

"We want to do what's best for him," Krivsky said.

The Reds picked Bailey with their No. 1 pick and the seventh pick overall in the 2004 draft. He was named the USA Today high school pitcher of the year. His senior year, he went 15-0 with a 0.68 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 922/3 innings.

He was slowed by a knee injury his first season as a pro. He showed promise in 2005, going 8-4 with a 4.43 ERA for Single-A Dayton.

But last year was Bailey's breakout season. The Reds moved him to Double-A Chattanooga at the halfway point of the season. Bailey went 7-1 with a 1.59 ERA. He was so dominant that there was talk of bringing him up for the stretch run with the Reds.

Krivsky resisted.

It will be hard not to do that at some point this year.

Narron was a bit coy about the plan for Bailey this spring. He wouldn't even reveal if Bailey will start a game.

"If I say yes, Wayne's going to come down here (and be all over me)," Narron said. "I'm not going to tell you until the day before. We'll kick it around some and see if we can work him in. He's got other guys ahead of him in that respect.

"If things happen to fall where he can start, yeah."

Later, Narron said there's actually a plan that is a little more definitive than that:

"I know what I'm going to do, but I'm not going to tell you."

The Reds try not to put added pressure on Bailey. But it's a futile exercise because of his ability and the aforementioned Reds' inability to produce a marquee pitcher.

Those who have dealt with Bailey in the minor leagues say he is remarkably mature for his age.

"Stuff-wise, it comes as advertised," said Mack Jenkins, the club's minor-league pitching coordinator. "But, for his age, he has such a good head on his shoulders. The thing I like best about him, the thing that separates him, is his competitiveness. Every time he takes the field, he goes out there to win. And he prepares the four days in between to the 'nth' degree to win. Guys his age don't have a game plan. He's got a game plan for every day, whether he's pitching or not pitching."

It's no coincidence that Roger Clemens, one of baseball's hardest-working, most-prepared pitchers, was Bailey's hero growing up.

The jump Bailey made from 2005 to 2006 indicates hard work and that he had a plan. He pitched better against better competition.

"He made a lot of improvements during the season," Jenkins said. "When he was sent out last year, Jerry told him he had a few things to work on. He worked on them daily. I think he conquered those things."

Bailey's fastball is so good, in one start last year his 96th pitch of the game was clocked at 98 mph.

Reds reliever Todd Coffey plays catch with Bailey every day in warm-ups. Coffey is a student of pitching. Bailey's stuff stands out even to someone like Coffey, who throws 94, 95 himself.

"He can be as good as he wants to be," Coffey said. "He's got the stuff. The more you pitch the more you learn. He's only pitched two years (as a pro). As good as he is now, think how good he'll be in two years."[/quote]



[url="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070224/SPT04/702240368"]Enquirer.com[/url]

[Guest schotzee]

If this guy is as good as they say and figure,I can't believe his name was even mentioned in trade rumors.

[sm00th_kw]

Nobody with any grip on reality mentioned his name in trade rumors.

[TDB]

I hate hype, but I can't help but be excited about Bailey. I'm glad Krivsky was patient last year and didn't throw him into the fire when the Reds were struggling.

If we can get through one more season without bringing him up, I think he'll be in perfect condition to move up for 2008.