Redsminorleagues.com

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Krivsky and Narron on Homer Bailey and Josh Hamilton

This is from C. Trent Rosecrans and his Reds blog for the Post

Went to the stag at La Salle tonight, but didn't stick around for everything. I just talked to some folks before it started and got out before the main program began (and even passed up the meal)

Anyway, the biggest topic of conversation, of course, was Homer Bailey.

Bailey will be in major league camp, but nobody is committing to much quite yet. I asked Jerry Narron how he'd treat Bailey in camp -- as a starter or a reliever or what. "We'll treat him like a guy who pitched in AA last year."

Wayne Krivsky was asked if he's ruled out Bailey starting the season with the Reds. He said he hasn't.

"I'm not going to say no to anything, it's just let's not get too excited," Krivsky said. "Let's let it play out. He hasn't pitched AAA yet, he only has half a year at AA. I'm not smart enough to tell you right now what our team's going to be when we leave spring training. I'm sure heÂs going to go down there and compete and we'll see how it shakes out. We need spring training to evaluate everybody."

As for Homer, he said he wants to make the decision as difficult as possible for Krivsky and Narron.

  • Another interesting tidbit is that Narron said he and Josh Hamilton have been meeting halfway between their hometowns in North Carolina, in a town called Smithfield, to work out several times a week.

    "It's been a lot of fun watching him," Narron said. "He's a tremendous athlete. He's got great bat speed. The one thing that's really hurt him is he hasn't played the last couple of years. It's going to be a huge adjustment for him and hopefully he makes our ballclub."

    Narron said his plan is to play Hamilton nearly every day and get him about 80-100 at-bats in the spring, no matter how he does. He'll also play him in all three outfield positions.

    "There are very few players in the major leagues with the kind of talent he has," Narron said. "But when you haven't played above (Class) A ball, it's a huge challenge for him."