Wood dominates latest rehab start: 'He felt great'
MILWAUKEE -- Reds left-handed starter Alex Wood appears close to being ready to make his 2019 debut with the club. In his fourth rehab assignment start, this time with Double-A Chattanooga on Monday, Wood allowed one earned run, four hits and no walks over six innings while striking out four and throwing 85 pitches.
Combined with his other three starts for Triple-A Louisville, Wood is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in four rehab outings. He has been out all season because of lower back spasms.
“Excellent reports,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He was really good. He felt great. He pitched really well, was really sharp. Everything was positive.”
The Reds have proceeded with caution throughout the rehab process for Wood, who has endured multiple setbacks since he pitched one Spring Training game on Feb. 25. His 30-day rehab assignment began on July 6, so the club could opt to give him another start.
However, the 85-90 pitch range is usually where most pitchers aim to be around the end of Spring Training, which is essentially the type of program Wood has been on.
With Tyler Mahle placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday with a left hamstring strain, Lucas Sims was tabbed to take his scheduled start on Wednesday vs. the Brewers. It’s conceivable that Wood could take the turn after.
As for Sims, it did not appear that his time with the Reds is short after his recall from Triple-A Louisville. In two relief appearances on Thursday and Sunday, he pitched a combined 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
“We’ve known all year that if something happened to one of our starters that we were comfortable and confident about him stepping in,” Bell said. “Our rotation has been so healthy. I think that’s why we finally made the decision to get Lucas up here, even if it’s as a reliever. Now we’re slotting him in on Wednesday. He’s a good pitcher. We’ll see how it turns out. We see him as part of our team, either as a starter or if we get Tyler back, putting him back in the bullpen.”
Lorenzen moving around the field
Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen did something rare for a pitcher in Monday’s 6-5 victory over Milwaukee by playing three different positions in one game. Lorenzen pitched two-thirds of the seventh inning and allowed two walks, and then moved to left field in a double switch. In the eighth inning, he was shifted over to right field.
“All the changes don’t bother me at all. I love it,” Lorenzen said on Tuesday. “It’s nice to be able to come out of a game and continue to play the game, if that makes sense. Obviously, I wasn’t very happy with my outing yesterday. I’m glad I could stay in the game and try to contribute another way.”
When Bell took the ball from Lorenzen on the mound to bring in lefty Amir Garrett, the right-hander's move to the outfield gave the Reds the option of him returning to the mound to pitch later in the game against right-handed hitters. That wasn’t in the plan, this time.
“Keeping him in the game leaves your options open. If we would have stayed [ahead] 4-1, Michael would have hit,” Bell said. “He’s just really good out there. As long as we had the comfortable lead, he was going to stay in. With runners on base, we would have tried to add on runs [and pinch-hit for him] and give up his defense.”
Bell has used Lorenzen in a variety of ways besides pitching with his ability to play the outfield, pinch-hit and pinch-run. Last Wednesday against the Cubs, he warmed up in the bullpen, entered the game as a center fielder and then was brought in later to pitch.
We could eventually see Bell have Lorenzen pitch, play outfield and return to pitch in a future game.
“Since we did it where I came in from center field to pitch and it worked out in Chicago, my stuff was good,” Lorenzen said. “It’s been, 'How’s his stuff going to play? Will all of the pitches be on?’ It was a good way to see that I am comfortable going from a position to the mound and I’m fine.”
“The more he’s challenged, the better he is,” Bell said. “It’s so rare. I’ve never seen it. I’ve been a little too cautious for his liking. Even the way he pitches, he has such an aggressive mentality. When he pitches like that, he’s even better. That’s how he operates.”