GOODYEAR, Ariz. – With 10 contenders vying for five Reds rotation spots, pitching coach Derek Johnson couldn't recall a previous camp where the competition was this deep. It's exactly what Johnson, who joined the club in 2019, wanted.

"To me, competition is a great thing," Johnson said on Sunday. "It should bring out the best in our guys. If it doesn’t bring out the best in our guys, I think we know something about them, too. For me, it’s a good thing. It’s a healthy thing. I’m really looking forward to seeing some of these guys battle it out.”

“It’s a good thing, and it’s a bad thing. Some guys are going to go out there and worry about stuff and not focus on what they need to be getting done," starter Graham Ashcraft said.

That's precisely what manager David Bell and Johnson have stressed to avoid doing. Bell and Johnson want pitchers not to be consumed by the competition but to embrace it and focus on their success.

It's a message being heeded to this early point of camp.

"It's just going to bring out the best in all of us," said Andrew Abbott, who emerged to go 8-6 with a 3.87 ERA in 21 starts after debuting. "We're not in control of any of those decisions. The less you worry about stuff that's out of your control, the more it's going to impact you. I try not to think about it. I just go out and do what I do every day and go about my business. They're going to do what's best for the team and best for me as well."

Going into 2023, the Reds had their "big three" of young starters in Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Ashcraft and then filled in the other two spots with veterans Luke Weaver and Luis Cessa. By season's end, only Greene was still pitching, and he missed two months with a hip injury. Lodolo was limited to seven starts by a stress fracture to his left tibia.

Ashcraft led Cincinnati in innings (145 2/3) and starts (26) but missed the last month to have surgery on his toe.

Add it up, and the Reds would need 17 starters to get through the season, tied for most in the National League. The rotation's 5.43 ERA was ranked 28th in Major League Baseball. The 82-win Reds finished two games out of the final NL playoff spot.

In the offseason, the Reds added veteran free agents Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez and they joined Greene, Lodolo, Ashcraft, Abbott, Brandon Williamson and prospects Carson Spiers, Lyon Richardson and Connor Phillips in the mix for the rotation.

“One of the strengths of our starters is the depth that we have, the young talent," Bell said. "No matter how it plays out, I see a lot of reinforcements that don't make the team. It's going to be a strong rotation in Triple-A.”

That would be pleasing to Triple-A Louisville manager Pat Kelly, who had to piece together his rotation last year while the big league parent club constantly raided it.

“Pat Kelly, his team could really hit last year," joked Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall.

But if the Reds need to call Louisville to summon a starter in 2024, there should be a better feeling. Even beyond Louisville, there could be other big arms at Double-A Chattanooga as reinforcements like Rhett Lowder, Chase Petty and Julian Aguiar.

"If injuries happen later on down the road, we have the guys that we know can back it up," Ashcraft said. "The past couple of years, it’s kind of been, 'We’ll see what happens.' This year, if somebody goes down, we’ve got another guy right behind him to fill that spot. It’s going to make everybody be on the top of their game, hopefully, year-round, to where everybody can go out there and perform for 162 games and then some.”

The Reds would still love to have their big three starters -- Greene, Lodolo and Ashcraft -- lead their rotation again but finally go pole-to-pole for an entire season. Injuries have prevented that from happening in each of their previous two seasons.

Lodolo and Ashcraft are on pitching program progressions this spring because of their injuries last year.

"It's kind of the next step in their development to prepare and get through a full season through October, 162 games and then through October," Bell said. "They're working hard to do that. We're all excited to see what some of our young pitchers can do when they stay healthy all year."