Wagner's good pitching lands him in setup role
Reds notebook
By Kevin Kelly and John Fay
Enquirer staff writers
The first pitch Ryan Wagner threw Monday was called for a strike.
Any Opening Day jitters the Reds reliever had been experiencing disappeared in that instant.
"After that first pitch," Wagner said, "it's like, 'Ah, man, I've done this my whole life. Here we go. No mind games. Let's pump some strikes in there and let them get themselves out.' "
Using his sinker and slider exclusively, the right-hander threw 15 pitches, 10 for strikes, in a scoreless eighth inning against the Mets on Monday at Great American Ball Park.
It continued a string of solid performances for the former first-round draft pick. Wagner went 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in 13 appearances this spring, and posted a 2.70 ERA in his final 26 appearances last season.
It was no coincidence Wagner pitched the eighth inning Monday.
The Reds, choosing to play the hot hand, plan to use him exclusively as the setup man to Danny Graves.
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