C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

UPDATE: Reds infielder Skip Schumaker was hurt diving for a ball this afternoon. Schumaker was able to walk off the field, but trainers were holding his left arm as he left.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- It may have not been the most poetic or tactful morning meeting with Reds manager Bryan Price today, but instead we just went machine gun-like through the Reds injury issues.

Here's the bottom line:

• Aroldis Chapman will obviously start the season on the DL.

• Jonathan Broxton (forearm) and Sean Marshall (shoulder) are progressing, but will start the season on the DL. Price said he is actually feeling as good about Marshall as he has been since this time last year.

Broxton is scheduled to throw in today's game against the Royals, his second outing of the spring.

Marshall is "close" to throwing live batting practice.

"He won't be ready for the season, I think we can anticipate with Broxton and Marshall to start the season on the DL," Price said. "They have to be ready to do what the other guys are doing, which is throw back-to-back games and have the durability to throw on a regular basis, simply because the starters aren't going to be asked to throw 115, 120 pitches in that early part of the season, so our bullpen will be relied upon to pick up a fair number of innings."

• Mat Latos (knee, elbow) is scheduled to throw in a minor-league game on Monday, but it appears he will start the season on the DL.

Alfredo Simon will likely start the season in the Reds' rotation.

"I think it's a reasonable assumption," Price said. "The thing we want to do with Mat is insure that he -- like we're talking with Broxton and Marshall -- is given every opportunity to be ready once he gets that first Major League starting assignment. I think we're doing our due diligence that he gets at least five starts here before we activate him."

• Johnny Cueto (scapula) is looking good and will start in a minor-league game on Tuesday.

When asked if his concern level was "minor," Price responded, "very minor. He could have pitched yesterday, but we felt being proactive, it was best not to exasperate the issue. It's something he could pitch with, but it'd be a nagging issue and I think we handled it the right way."

• Homer Bailey (groin) will throw a bullpen on Friday and could start on Sunday, if all goes well. "He does have to get through today's bullpen and come through tomorrow feeling good, to make that start on Sunday."

Price added, "Today's a pretty big day. If he can pitch on Sunday, he could come back and pitch on Friday (in Pensacola) and then he's lined up for the season. He should be able to get his innings and number of pitches ready to go. I think today's bullpen and ability to pitch on Sunday is pretty important."

• Mike Leake (abdominal muscle) is clear. He made his last start, but the Reds used the DH to avoid him batting, but he's clear to hit now. "He's full-go now," Price said.

• Tony Cingrani ("dead arm") is fine.

"He's mentioned he's had some arm fatigue the last couple of times out, but it's not uncommon for guys at this point in time to have what we affectionately call 'dead arm,' but he said he felt really good playing catch after his last start and hopefully he's through that," Price said. "We don't have any concerns for Tony being ready for the season."

• Aside from the pitching staff, Devin Mesoraco strained his oblique muscle on Wednesday.

"Typically the response to that is 48 hours of inactivity and reassess," Mesoraco said. "We don't feel at this point in time that it's a significant issue, however when you talk about the oblique, it always can be a concern. Today and tomorrow are big days in order to be able to assess the severity of his concerns."

Mesoraco said he didn't do anything on Thursday, just got treatment and the next two days he will do smaller tests.

"I felt it in the cage (Wednesday), and it was just really minor, I just kept trying to swing and it didn't really bother me at all," Mesoraco said. "But then I came in and sat down and I tried to go back out and I could tell it just wasn't quite right, so I just shut it down before I did anything to really, really aggravate it. So right now I'm just monitoring it and see where it's at and go nice and easy until I know it's fine."

• Price had previously said that Jack Hannahan (shoulder) will also start on the 15-day disabled list.