CINCINNATI -- The Reds haven’t been afraid to show that they’re enjoying themselves during their eventful first four games, which featured three wins, a benches-clearing scuffle and plenty of Nick Castellanos’ offense and swagger.

Known for showing his emotions on the mound, lefty reliever Amir Garrett is a big fan of his teammate’s displays and bat flips, and he hopes more follow his lead.

“Everybody is going to feed into it,” Garrett said on Tuesday. “I want everybody to think of the Cincinnati Reds as the most cockiest team ever. We’re some bat flipping, showboating sons of guns. I want everybody to know that.” 

Garrett often speaks of having two personalities, regular Amir when off the mound and the intense and fired up “A.G.” when he’s in a game. He believes that Castellanos is of similar makeup.

“I swear he doesn’t do it on purpose, because in the locker room, Nick is very chill,” Garrett said. “I would say he has two split personalities as well. When he’s out there, he’s like, ‘Did I do that? Was that show?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, bro, that was show. That’s really show.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t mean to do that.’”

Castellanos flipped his bat and skipped towards first base when he hit his first home run of 2021 against the Cardinals on Opening Day last Thursday. On Saturday, he was drilled in the ribs by a Jake Woodford fastball. Then later in the same inning, he sparked a benches-clearing incident by standing over Woodford and flexing when he scored on a wild pitch.

On Monday, MLB issued a two-game suspension for Castellanos’ actions, though he is playing while waiting on his appeal.

Reds manager David Bell, who is generally mild-mannered before and after games but more intense during, likes that his players are having fun.

“Their hearts are in the right place,” Bell said. “We make mistakes for sure. I mean, are we perfect? Not even close. But really good intentions. Good hearts.

"Generous, just good people. So it makes it easy to have one of your values [as] be authentic, and to be who you are. And I think I can trust that with every guy in our clubhouse. That’s going to come out in a lot of different ways. It’s going to come out in different personalities and different styles, and that’s a good thing. I think it’s fun to play in today’s game, because you’re allowed to outwardly express your emotions a little bit.

“And I’m not talking about being disrespectful or anything like that, but to be able to let out, it’s really difficult what our players do when you have success, to be able to show that. That’s enjoyable to watch. It makes you a better player, and you should be allowed to do that.”

Garrett notched save No. 1 in his first appearance

In each of the first three games vs. St. Louis, Garrett remained in the bullpen and didn’t get to pitch. He was given the ball in the ninth inning of Monday’s 5-3 victory over the Pirates, but he gave up a leadoff homer to Bryan Reynolds with a single and a two-out walk as well.

It was Garrett’s second career save.

“I definitely was really hype, just being back and playing in front of fans,” Garrett said. “I was a little nervous out there. I hadn’t pitched in a while, eight days. I was just happy to get back out there, because I was seeing everybody go out to pitch, and I was like a wild animal in there. I was like, ‘Let me out of here, let me out of here.’ Now we’re good -- got that first one out of the way. Good to go now.”

Gray pitches at alternate site

Reds starting pitcher Sonny Gray, who is on the 10-day injured list because of mid-back spasms, threw 60 pitches in 4 2/3 innings on Monday at the alternate training site in Louisville, Ky. Gray pitched against Royals Minor Leaguers at Louisville Slugger Field.

“I treated it as close to a normal start as I could,” Gray said. “It was nice to get out, umpires in the game. I felt really, really, really good. … I was ready to roll, so I think it went very well. I was very pleased with how I threw the ball.”

The next step for Gray has not yet been determined.

Akiyama update

Injured outfielder Shogo Akiyama (left hamstring strain) was in Louisville's dugout watching Gray, but he isn’t targeted to get into a game until closer to the end of April. The loose target date for Akiyama to return from the 10-day IL is mid-May.