Farmer makes first MLB start at catcher

CINCINNATI -- Reds utility player Kyle Farmer had logged nearly 2,800 innings of 331 Minor League games as a catcher, but only nine innings over four big league games for the Dodgers since he came up in 2017.

After being acquired from Los Angeles in December’s seven-player trade with Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood, Farmer caught in Spring Training. Until Tuesday against the Brewers, he had never started a game behind the plate in the Major Leagues.

Farmer, who caught for starter Tanner Roark vs. Milwaukee, had been Cincinnati’s No. 3 catcher behind Tucker Barnhart and Curt Casali. But Barnhart went on the 10-day injured list Friday with a right oblique strain and Casali needed a day off.

“I’ve got good mentors in Tucker and Curt. I’ve been peppering them with questions about how they go about it, and they’ve been really helpful,” Farmer said. “[Starting] came pretty quick. But I slept well last night and didn’t really think about it much.”

Farmer has appeared at first base, second base and third base this season and often takes grounders at shortstop before games. His pregame preparation has also included working with coach J.R. House on catching.

Since Barnhart’s injury, the work level increased to something usually done at Spring Training.

“I’ve had three Spring Training days, even though the weather didn’t really feel like Spring Training,” Farmer said. “I’ve felt comfortable. J.R. has been working every day with me since the season started. We’ve been doing the same thing over and over again just to keep me in the mix with stuff. I think the one true test will be later in the game -- the seventh or eighth inning -- I’ve never hit this year after catching. We’ll see how it goes. The legs deteriorate pretty fast.”

Reds manager David Bell is confident in Farmer being able to handle catching and making some starts when needed.

“That’s not to say it’s going to be perfect. He hasn’t caught all year,” Bell said. “We’re at a point where we need him to catch. No team can go through a stretch of the season with one guy. He needs to be in there. If anybody can make this transition, it’s Kyle. He works so hard. He’s a great athlete. He has experience. He’s really smart.”

Injury report

Wood (lower back spasms) had no additional issues from throwing on flat ground Sunday. The left-hander, who had to postpone a rehab assignment last week because of a setback, is scheduled to throw a side bullpen session on Wednesday.

Lefty reliever Wandy Peralta (right hip flexor strain) threw a side bullpen session on Tuesday without any problems.

Kids get to ‘PLAY’ at GABP

The National PLAY Campaign stopped at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday morning to promote the importance of children living a healthy lifestyle and disability inclusion.

Since its founding in 2014, the PLAY campaign has worked with MLB for more inclusion in baseball for children with disabilities. The Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society, the Ruderman Family Foundation, the Taylor Hooton Foundation and National Down Syndrome Society partnered to promote living an active and healthy lifestyle, strength and conditioning education, injury prevention and the dangers of performance- and appearance-enhancing drugs.

“The first aspect of it is being against steroids for the Hooton Foundation,” said Reds reliever Matt Bowman, who participated in the program on Tuesday. “It’s always good to communicate to kids that there is a good way to go about your preparation, and a safe way to do it. I was lucky that I felt a certain way about performance enhancers from a young age. It was never really a question of whether or not I would do them. So, you just nip that in the bud early and kids can have confidence to do things the right way.”

Besides Bowman, the kids also got lessons from the Reds’ training staff of Steve Baumann, Tomas Vera and Jimmy Mattocks and strength and conditioning director Sean Marohn. Bowman enjoyed also getting to work alongside kids with Down syndrome.

“I was more than happy to do that as well,” Bowman said. “Everyone was happy to be here on the field. They shared my enthusiasm for getting on a Major League Baseball field. That aspect of it was really fun.”