Draft pick Bailey at first Spring Training
02/24/2006
SARASOTA, Fla. -- In a Reds organization parched for pitching prospects going on well over a decade, Homer Bailey doesn't appear to be just a mirage.
Bailey, who was Cincinnati's first-round draft pick (seventh overall) in 2004, is participating in his first big league Spring Training as a non-roster player. It's not a bad place to be for someone who is still only a teenager.
The right-hander is 19 years old.
"I can get a feel of what things would be like for me and where I stack up against the guys who have been in the Major Leagues a few years now," Bailey said.
By the look of it, he stacks up pretty well. In a recent live batting practice session, Bailey was dealing mid-90s mph fastballs and had hitters flailing. Pitchers usually have an advantage over rusty hitters this early in camp, but you got the impression there would be little difference in the results if it were later in spring.
All of the indications were there. The kid can definitely pitch.
"I think he's a couple of years away, but I like him," said former Reds ace Mario Soto, who's in camp as an instructor.
Reds manager Jerry Narron got his first look at Bailey pitching for a couple of innings last fall during an instructional league game in Florida.
"He dominated," Narron said. "He's going to be very good."
That seems to be the consensus around the game. After Bailey went 8-4 with a 4.56 ERA for a last-place Class A Dayton team in 2005, Baseball America named him the second-best prospect in the Midwest League. The publication listed him at No. 38 among all Minor League prospects in its 2006 preseason rankings. Still finalizing its list for publication next month, MLB.com will have Bailey among its top 50 list of prospects, too.
"Last year I didn't have any goals. It was, 'Let's see what professional baseball is all about,'" said Bailey, who was limited to 103 2/3 innings last season because Dayton's pitchers were limited to a pitch count of 60 under an organizational rule that has since been changed. "I wanted to get my feet underneath me and see what I was getting myself into. Over the whole year, I learned a lot."
Cincinnati hasn't drafted and developed a solid Major League pitcher of its own since Tom Browning in the 1980s. Years of bad luck -- whether it was via poor drafting, guys not signing or injuries -- have left the cupboard bare of promising young pitchers.
That could put Bailey on the express lane to soon working at Great American Ball Park.
"The way I see it, the organization is low on pitching. I'm a pitcher. It's like an open gate," said Bailey, a native of LaGrange, Texas. "They're looking for anybody that can get the job done. Obviously, I'm just another pitcher. I'd like to step in and take a big role."
"When he's ready to pitch in the Major Leagues, we'll bring him up, if that's April 1 of this year or its April 1, 2008," Narron said. "My whole thing is if you're ready, not how much time you've spent in the Minors."
Like most other young pitchers, there is room for improvement. The organization would like Bailey to sharpen his fielding skills and be better holding runners on base. His release time throwing to home plate could be quickened. All are areas that will be addressed in camp and during the regular season, where he could likely begin in high Class A.
"Obviously, I'm just like everybody else," Bailey said. "I want to get there as soon as possible. I think everybody in the Minor League system does. That's out of my control. All I can do is win games and do the best I can. The rest will take care of itself. If I get people out and do my job, I'll move up."
Source: http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/
SARASOTA, Fla. -- In a Reds organization parched for pitching prospects going on well over a decade, Homer Bailey doesn't appear to be just a mirage.
Bailey, who was Cincinnati's first-round draft pick (seventh overall) in 2004, is participating in his first big league Spring Training as a non-roster player. It's not a bad place to be for someone who is still only a teenager.
The right-hander is 19 years old.
"I can get a feel of what things would be like for me and where I stack up against the guys who have been in the Major Leagues a few years now," Bailey said.
By the look of it, he stacks up pretty well. In a recent live batting practice session, Bailey was dealing mid-90s mph fastballs and had hitters flailing. Pitchers usually have an advantage over rusty hitters this early in camp, but you got the impression there would be little difference in the results if it were later in spring.
All of the indications were there. The kid can definitely pitch.
"I think he's a couple of years away, but I like him," said former Reds ace Mario Soto, who's in camp as an instructor.
Reds manager Jerry Narron got his first look at Bailey pitching for a couple of innings last fall during an instructional league game in Florida.
"He dominated," Narron said. "He's going to be very good."
That seems to be the consensus around the game. After Bailey went 8-4 with a 4.56 ERA for a last-place Class A Dayton team in 2005, Baseball America named him the second-best prospect in the Midwest League. The publication listed him at No. 38 among all Minor League prospects in its 2006 preseason rankings. Still finalizing its list for publication next month, MLB.com will have Bailey among its top 50 list of prospects, too.
"Last year I didn't have any goals. It was, 'Let's see what professional baseball is all about,'" said Bailey, who was limited to 103 2/3 innings last season because Dayton's pitchers were limited to a pitch count of 60 under an organizational rule that has since been changed. "I wanted to get my feet underneath me and see what I was getting myself into. Over the whole year, I learned a lot."
Cincinnati hasn't drafted and developed a solid Major League pitcher of its own since Tom Browning in the 1980s. Years of bad luck -- whether it was via poor drafting, guys not signing or injuries -- have left the cupboard bare of promising young pitchers.
That could put Bailey on the express lane to soon working at Great American Ball Park.
"The way I see it, the organization is low on pitching. I'm a pitcher. It's like an open gate," said Bailey, a native of LaGrange, Texas. "They're looking for anybody that can get the job done. Obviously, I'm just another pitcher. I'd like to step in and take a big role."
"When he's ready to pitch in the Major Leagues, we'll bring him up, if that's April 1 of this year or its April 1, 2008," Narron said. "My whole thing is if you're ready, not how much time you've spent in the Minors."
Like most other young pitchers, there is room for improvement. The organization would like Bailey to sharpen his fielding skills and be better holding runners on base. His release time throwing to home plate could be quickened. All are areas that will be addressed in camp and during the regular season, where he could likely begin in high Class A.
"Obviously, I'm just like everybody else," Bailey said. "I want to get there as soon as possible. I think everybody in the Minor League system does. That's out of my control. All I can do is win games and do the best I can. The rest will take care of itself. If I get people out and do my job, I'll move up."
Source: http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/
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