Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros
LA Angels
Oakland Athleticss
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
LaRue's the last to know
A day later, catcher discovers his job being shared
By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer
When Reds manager Jerry Narron said Thursday that the catcher's job was going to be shared by Jason LaRue and Javier Valentin, he said it to reporters.
It didn't get back to LaRue, the erstwhile starter, until Friday.
"If that's going to happen, somebody needs to let me know," he said. "The communications broke down somewhere."
So will he talk to Narron?
"You better believe I am," LaRue said.
That meeting took place before Friday's game with the Milwaukee Brewers.
"We talked," Narron said. "But he didn't come to me."
Translation: Narron brought in LaRue to explain things.
What Narron said to reporters was: "Javy is, right now, probably playing the best baseball of his career. He's definitely going to get some playing time and I'm just basically going to have to do the same thing with Javy and Jason that we're going to do with (Austin) Kearns and (Wily Mo) Peņa."
Valentin has been on a tear at the plate. He has five home runs in his last three starts.
"Javy has been hot," LaRue said. "The last three days, he's been unbelievable. But nobody told me my job was up to be lost."
Valentin has been swinging well for some time. Going into Friday's game - which he started - Valentin was hitting .348 with nine home runs and 22 RBI in his last 23 games.
LaRue has been no slouch at the plate, either. In his last 36 games, he's hitting .309 with seven home runs and 27 RBI.
Of course, hitting is secondary to a catcher's job.
The Reds' ERA is 5.21 with Valentin catching and 5.76 with LaRue catching. The Reds went into Friday 15-17 when Valentin starts and 25-37 when LaRue starts.
HANCOCK THROWS: Josh Hancock, on the disabled list all year with a strained right groin, threw 50 pitches in a simulated game Friday.
"I can get big-league hitters out right now," he said. "I might go to Dayton or Louisville and get shelled, but up here I can get guys out."
The next step for Hancock is to throw a bullpen session Sunday.
He said he'll pitch in a minor-league game somewhere in five days.
Hancock has had numerous setbacks.
"My optimism is guarded," he said. "I'll be happy when I get activated."
Hancock was hitting 89 mph on the scoreboard reading - about what he normally pitches.
"He looked good," Narron said. "The ball had good movement."
NEW LOOK LINEUP: Narron had Joe Randa in the No. 2 spot in the batting order and Rich Aurilia hitting fifth for the first time all year Friday.
"Rich has done a great job for us with guys on bases," Narron said. "We moved him down there and we'll see what happens."
Aurilia went into Friday hitting .339 with runners in scoring position, best on the team, and 100 points higher than Randa.
WEBER REHAB: Ben Weber threw one scoreless inning, 13 pitches, in the first game of a rehabilitation assignment Thursday for Single-A Dayton.
Weber has been on the DL since May 24 with a bulging disc in his neck. He is expected to throw for the Dragons again tonight.
FARM REPORT: Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-4 with an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to 10 games in Triple-A Louisville's 1-0 win over Pawtucket.
Left-hander Travis Wood, the Reds' second-round pick in this year's draft, still hasn't allowed a run. He went three innings in the Gulf Coast Reds' 1-0 victory over the GCL Twins Friday.
Wood, 18, struck out six and allowed two hits. Wood has allowed only seven hits and has struck out 31 in 172/3 innings.
NEXT: The Reds play the Brewers in the second game of the three-game series tonight.
Left-hander Brandon Claussen (4-7, 4.22 ERA) takes on right-hander Victor Santos (2-10, 3.82) in a 7:10 p.m. game.
Register To Reply
Originally Posted by Sea Ray
