D'oh! Homer roughed up

[The Entertainer]

[quote][size=3][b]D'oh! Homer roughed up[/b][/size]
Narron: Getting fastball up was biggest problem

BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM


BRADENTON, Fla. - Rest easy, Reds fans.

"Yeah, I got hit around," Homer Bailey said. "But the sun is going to come up tomorrow."

Bailey's spring training debut was less than spectacular. He went two innings, allowing three runs on three hits, in the Reds' 10-4 victory over the pissburgh Pirates at McKechnie Field Sunday.

He walked one, struck out one and looked a long way shy of invincible. There are going to be days like these, as they say.

"Sometimes I think all of us think he's going to go out and dominate every time he steps on the mound," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "That's not going to happen."

Bailey, the club's No. 1 draft choice in 2004, burst into the consciousness of Reds fans with a stunningly good second half last year. He was 7-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 13 starts at Double-A Chattanooga.

When Bailey worked a seven-pitch, 1-2-3 first inning Sunday, he looked ready to roll. But the second inning wasn't so easy.

"First inning, I breezed right through. Second inning, did some things wrong," he said. "I need that. I know what I need to do now."

Namely command his fastball. His out pitch is the low fastball. He's struggled to find that early in camp - partly because he's worked so hard on his off-speed stuff. All his trouble in the second was the result of rising fastballs.

"He was up with everything," Narron said.

One of the impressive things about Bailey is he's 20 years old and a bit cocky, but he knows that he's going to take lumps along the way and vows to learn from them.

"He wants to be good," Narron said. "He doesn't just want to be a major-league pitcher. He knows he has some things to work on. I think he'll do that just from the kind of makeup he has."

Bailey did his best to shrug off the start with nonchalance.

"Home to pitcher's mound is still 60 feet," he said.

Bailey said he was almost completely unfamiliar with the hitters in the pissburgh lineup.

"I guess it's kind of a Catch-22 in that I don't know any of these hitters," he said. "I never really watch baseball. The only player I really noticed was (Adam) LaRoche, and I never watched him hit. It's kind of good in that I don't know the players and I don't know what they do. It's kind of bad that I don't their weaknesses."

Bailey will get more chances, but Narron said it's unlikely that Bailey will start another game.

"The way we're set up now it would be doubtful," Narron said.

But Sunday's start was something the Reds wanted for Bailey.

"It's a great learning experience for him to come out and get a start in a major-league exhibition game," Narron said. "He's going to pitch some more. He's going to get better."

Bailey seems bent on that. He was asked the difference between young guys who are throwers and young guys who are pitchers.

"The biggest difference is knowing what you have to work on," he said. "You always hear the best pitchers are students of the game I'll be the first to you tell I'm not. But I'll do whatever it takes to be the best at what I do - whether it's learning how to command a changeup or breaking ball (or) making adjustments like getting the fastball down in the stretch."

"I think that's biggest difference: This is what I have to work on. This is how I'm going to get it done and then doing it.

"Understanding your weaknesses and making them strengths."

But make no mistake, while the Reds plan on Bailey starting the year in Triple-A, he'd prefer to start in the big leagues.

That's why he worked so hard on his off-speed stuff in the offseason. That's why he views his outings down here as more than tune-ups for the regular season.

He's working on things - and auditioning for a job.

"It's a little bit of both," he said. "I'm definitely working on stuff, but I'm trying to show what I have."[/quote]



[url="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070305/SPT04/703050345/1062/SPT"]Enquirer.com[/url]

[The Entertainer]

[quote][b][size=3]An early look[/size] [/b]

Homer Bailey and Josh Hamilton are off and running this spring. Bailey pitched two innings in Sunday's win over the Pirates. And Hamilton is tied for the major-league lead with 15 at-bats this spring. A look at their stats:

HOMER BAILEY
IP H R BB K ERA
2 3 3 1 1 13.50

JOSH HAMILTON
AB H HR RBI AVG.
15 8 1 3 .533[/quote]



[url="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070305/SPT04/703050345/1062/SPT"]Enquirer.com[/url]

[Guest schotzee]

I'm not worried about Bailey,but if he prefers to start in the bigs and not triple A this year like he says, he better show it on the field.

[Hooky]

Cut him.

[Guest schotzee]

[quote name='Hooky' post='450613' date='Mar 5 2007, 08:44 AM']Cut him.[/quote]


Nah,he deserves one more chance [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons//3.gif[/img]

[Hooky]

[quote name='schotzee' post='450618' date='Mar 5 2007, 08:58 AM'] Nah,he deserves one more chance [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons//3.gif[/img][/quote]

OK. Besides, he still looks better than Milton.

[ChicagoBengal]

Never stress anything that happens early in spring training unless it involves injuty.

[Guest schotzee]

[quote name='ChicagoBengal' post='450624' date='Mar 5 2007, 09:06 AM']Never stress anything that happens early in spring training unless it involves injuty.[/quote]


Not even our 4-0 start

[Hooky]

[quote name='schotzee' post='450633' date='Mar 5 2007, 09:26 AM']Not even our 4-0 start [/quote]

Are you talking about the Reds or Bengals?

[Guest schotzee]

[quote name='Hooky' post='450636' date='Mar 5 2007, 09:32 AM']Are you talking about the Reds or Bengals?[/quote]


The Reds.We are 4-0 aren't we?At least I thought we were :blink:I see the confusion though,I could have meant the Bengals.I forgot about our 4-0 preseason start there.

[Hooky]

[quote name='schotzee' post='450644' date='Mar 5 2007, 09:45 AM']The Reds.We are 4-0 aren't we?At least I thought we were :blink:I see the confusion though,I could have meant the Bengals.I forgot about our 4-0 preseason start there.[/quote]

I was making a parallel observation. It's hard not to get excited about a 4-0 start, but it is pre-season and means next to nothing from a win-loss perspective.