Ashcraft checking off goals each start

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – For his first spring outing, Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft was focused on getting his slider sharpened. In his second start Tuesday against the Giants, Ashcraft's goal was to throw everything for strikes.

Ashcraft threw 44 pitches over three innings and allowed two earned runs, three hits and one walk and struck out two during Cincinnati's 7-3 victory. He also hit a batter and gave up a home run to Michael Conforto in the top of the third inning.

"It’s Spring Training so we’re trying to fill the zone up," said Ashcraft, who threw 10 additional pitches in the bullpen after his start. "Going cutters away to lefties. Then mix back in with sliders. After the first inning I went in and said stay in tight on lefties. They don’t like the cutter in. Let’s see what happens. Slider was good, I went 9 for 14 [for strikes]."

Ashcraft hit J.D. Davis, his second batter of the day, with a two-seam fastball in the first inning, and Davis scored a batter later on Isan Díaz's RBI double to left field.

"Throw the two-seam for strikes and quit hitting righties with it," said Ashcraft about his goal for his next start. "Right now it’s trying to make sure I’m ready to go six, seven or eight innings whenever my first game is. I feel like I’m building up, I could have gone out there for another inning."

Following a 1-2-3 second inning, Conforto hit a 2-0 pitch to right field for a leadoff homer. Ashcraft gave up a two-out triple to Casey Schmitt that got lost in the sun by right fielder Chad Pinder.

In two starts this spring, Ashcraft has a 7.20 ERA with four earned runs and six hits allowed over five innings with two walks and four strikeouts.

Like fellow starters Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo, Ashcraft is entering his second season in the Major Leagues. Over 19 starts and 105 innings in 2022, the right-hander was 5-6 with a 4.89 ERA. Before he missed a month on the injured list with right biceps soreness, he had a 2.67 ERA over a five-start stretch.

"He’s right in that mix with the other two as far as how he handled his first season," Reds manager David Bell said. "He made improvements. He’s exactly what you would want in a player on our team, definitely as a starting pitcher. He’s very competitive, determined to keep getting better. You couldn’t ask for much more.”

More items of note from Reds camp on Tuesday

• First baseman Joey Votto, who is rehabbing from August left shoulder surgery, has continued to do his drills and hitting in camp without issue. But there is no timetable for getting Votto into games.

"He looks really good. Nothing yet to report on a date," Bell said.

• Right-handed pitcher Chase Anderson, who was moved into big league camp among Tuesday's Reds transactions, will be in the mix for a roster spot in either the rotation or bullpen. Bell said that Anderson would be stretched out in camp to get enough innings to possibly start. Anderson started Monday and pitched two scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a 6-1 win over the Rockies.

"He looked like the same guy who finished strong for us and pitched well at the end of the season. It’s great," Bell said. "He was on the radar anyway even being in the other camp. But now that he’s with our team, it’s obviously a lot better for him and we love having him around."

• In the Reds' first-ever three-point shooting basketball competition, Wil Myers was the winner. The two-day contest, which began Monday with over 60 participants among players, coaches and staff, ended Tuesday with the top eight contestants competing. In the finals, Myers defeated Bo Thompson, the team's director of integrated baseball information and video, to take the crown.