SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Reds will break camp after Sunday’s game vs. the Rockies, and manager David Bell hopes to have the 25-man roster set before departing for two exhibition games against the Braves on Monday and Tuesday.

“The goal is to have us pretty much set by the time we leave here to go to Atlanta. The exact day and time hasn’t been determined,” Bell said on Wednesday. “We only have like four or five days here left. I would say by this weekend, we want to be set. As much as we want that, realistically, there might be a few decisions that come down to the last day.”

Just ahead of Opening Day in past years, the Reds made some last-minute waiver claims that changed the makeup of their roster -- such as starter Dan Straily in 2016 and reliever Alfredo Simon in 2012.

Among things still to be decided are who will start in center field between Scott Schebler and Nick Senzel, the fifth starter’s spot and the last couple of bullpen and bench spots.

Bell has maintained that he would like the club to carry 13 pitchers for multiple reasons.

“It allows you to have the flexibility of matching it up,” he said. “It makes it more possible to keep guys fresh and healthy over the course of the year. There may be times we go to a 12-man staff, but when you look at our pitching, it's so important if we can keep guys healthy and strong over the course of the year.”

That would mean only four bench players, but there’s a caveat. Tyler Mahle would appear to be the leading candidate to replace the injured Alex Wood (sore lower back) in the fifth spot. However, because of multiple off-days in the early days of the regular season, it could be possible to carry four starters, eight relievers and five bench players until the fifth man is needed. By then, Wood could be ready and if not, Mahle would be the likely callup from Triple-A.

One other factor is reliever Michael Lorenzen, who can also be utilized off the bench as a pinch-hitter or center fielder.

“I'm not afraid to use everybody on the bench,” Bell said. “I feel like there will be times we do this, especially with Michael Lorenzen, especially on certain nights.”

Roark ready

The starting pitcher in Wednesday’s 6-1 win over the Rangers, Tanner Roark, delivered 5 1/3 innings with one earned run allowed, five hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Roark finished Cactus League play with a 2.29 ERA over five starts.

“I felt good. Today was a grinder one,” Roark said. “I wasn’t really as sharp as I was last time. You’re not going to be that sharp every time. You’d like to be though. … In the second, third and fourth inning, the leadoff guy was on. Two leadoff doubles in the second and third. I felt like I managed to control the damage and go out with one run.”

The lone run against Roark came after Delino DeShields Jr. hit a leadoff double in the fourth inning and scored on Rougned Odor’s RBI single. Bell has been very happy with the spring performances from Roark, who was acquired in a December trade from the Nationals.

“He’s had as good of a spring as you could possibly have, which is a great sign,” Bell said. “Even in his case, he has a long track record. That tells us more than what he’s done this spring. What he’s done this spring tells us he’s healthy and strong and ready to go for the season and in a good place.”

Roark is scheduled to start Monday’s exhibition game at Atlanta and the third game of the regular season on March 31 against Pittsburgh.

No Puig in center field?

When camp opened last month, Bell and the club were planning on giving right fielder Yasiel Puig some innings in center field. But Puig has yet to appear in a game at that position – in part because a majority of the time has gone to the two players competing for the regular job, Schebler and Senzel.

“We’ve talked about that. As we know, there’s decisions to be made with our outfield,” Bell said. “It hasn’t been a top priority to get him over there, but it has been considered. It could make some sense. He knows he can do it. We know he can do it. We just haven’t done it yet this spring.”

Up next

The Reds will play in split-squad games on Thursday. While hosting the day game against the Royals at 4:05 p.m. ET in Goodyear, Anthony DeSclafani will get the start. In the 9:40 p.m. ET game against the Mariners in Peoria, Matt Bowman will get his first start of spring and his fourth game overall.