GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Craig Kimbrel used a curveball to induce a swing-and-miss from Reds star Joey Votto for a strikeout on Wednesday afternoon. Four batters later, the Cubs closer fired a 96-mph fastball that eluded the bat of Phillip Ervin for another whiff.

All things considered, Kimbrel considered his Cactus League debut another positive step forward.

"I felt good. It feels like it was productive," Kimbrel said after his work in a 6-6 tie against the Reds at Goodyear Ballpark. "I was able to throw the ball, for the most part, where I wanted to. Direction felt good. The ball was coming out good. Overall, I felt like it was a good day."

In the fourth inning, Kimbrel began his appearance with the punchout of Votto and then yielded a solo homer to Derek Dietrich. That blast came on a 95-mph heater that Kimbrel said did not have the usual riding action. That will give him something to work on in the days leading up to his next outing on Sunday against the D-backs.

Kimbrel followed the home run with a pair of ground balls: One for an out off the bat of Shogo Akiyama and another from Tucker Barnhart that second baseman David Bote bobbled for an error. That was when the closer finished off his appearance with the strikeout of Ervin.

Throughout the inning, Kimbrel sat at 95-96 mph with his fastball. He smiled when asked if there is more in the tank with the pitch.

"I hope so, yeah. There should be," Kimbrel said. "That was a good sign for the first time off the bump."

Cubs manager David Ross cautioned against reading too much into any pitcher's Spring Training debut, when they are getting that initial feel for facing opposing hitters again. With Kimbrel, specifically, the manager said he would be watching his mechanics and command.

"I'm not looking for ninth-inning Craig Kimbrel today," Ross said. "There's still a build-up process that's going to kind of take place all spring. But, he's excited to get out there."

Strop faces old friends
Reds reliever Pedro Strop -- unequivocally, one of the best relievers in Cubs history -- could not contain his smile on the field on Wednesday. The righty took the mound in the third inning against his former teammates, who were wearing him out with shouts from the first-base dugout.

"It felt so weird, me pitching against them," Strop said with his usual large laugh. "They were just screaming, 'Stinks!' A bunch of stuff. Like [Anthony] Rizzo, [Victor] Caratini, the boys in the dugout, 'Hey, throw the fastball!', every time I threw a slider. So, it was getting my attention a little bit.

"Usually, I'm really focused and look like I'm mad. But today, I couldn't. I couldn't. I couldn't do that. It was fun. I was happy to see my ex-teammates in there, enjoying the moment, me pitching against them. Me, too. I enjoyed the moment."

The 34-year-old Strop said the Cubs "did try hard" to re-sign him, but the message he received was that there just was not enough room in the budget. Cincinnati used a one-year, $1.825 million contract to sign Strop, who had a 2.90 ERA in 411 games over the past seven years with Chicago.

Strop laughed again when told that Javier Báez moved into his old locker at the Cubs' complex in Mesa, Ariz.

"That way, I think he's not going to miss me that bad," Strop said. "Maybe the locker's going to smell like me still. I wear a lot of cologne!"

Worth noting
• Given the reports that Brewers star Christian Yelich is nearing an extension (worth around $215 million over the 2020-28 seasons, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand), Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein was asked Wednesday if there has been any progress in talks with any of his players.

"I'm not making any predictions or really talking about it," Epstein said. "You guys know, we've tried really hard to sign a lot of our guys. With a few exceptions, we haven't been able to get it done. It's not worth talking about. If we can get it done, we will. If we can't, then we'll move forward."

• Cubs right-hander Tyler Chatwood, the leading candidate for the rotation's lone vacancy, logged three strong innings on Wednesday against the Reds. Chatwood piled up five strikeouts, issued no walks and allowed one run on a solo homer by Josh VanMeter.

"I felt good," Chatwood said. "Today, my big thing was making sure I pitched. I think last outing, I got in fastball-happy mode. So, today I wanted to go throw everything and I was able to do that, able to get good swing and misses and I felt really good."

• Epstein said the "early returns are encouraging" when it comes to the Cubs' bullpen competition. In particular, Epstein raved about how Jeremy Jeffress, Dan Winkler, Ryan Tepera and Casey Sadler (out of Minor League options) have looked thus far.

"Yeah, some of these guys we've brought in," Epstein said, "on either small trades or small free-agent signings have given us some good early feedback. But, it's really early. You know how volatile bullpens can be."

Up next
Right-hander Yu Darvish was scheduled to start for the Cubs on Thursday, when Chicago hosts the Rangers at 2:05 p.m. CT at Sloan Park, but he was scratched because of illness and replaced by James Norwood, a 26-year-old righty who has appeared in 20 games for Chicago over the past two seasons. Righty Jonathan Hernández is listed to start for Texas. Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ will likely be in the lineup for the Cubs.