C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

Homer Bailey’s second rehab stint from Tommy John surgery will begin Monday at Triple-A Louisville with a two-inning appearance.

Bailey made two starts in April before elbow pain caused him to stop his rehab from his surgery performed last May. He will make a minimum of five starts before he could return to the Reds, manager Bryan Price said on Thursday.

For now, Bailey said he’s keeping an even keel about his return.

“We’ve already been down this road and it didn’t work out so well the first time, so I’m going to try to go day-by-day,” Bailey said.

If he made five starts, that would have him in line to start in the last week or so of July.

“We’ve really taken a step back in how aggressive we are pursuing this rehab. I think we will stay on the same philosophy going forward,” Price said. “It doesn’t mean that after five he won’t be activated, but it would probably take him five to get up into that area before it would be conceivable to have him pitch for us. Also, kind of gone through a proving ground to a certain extent and verify the elbow is OK.”

Price said he expects Bailey to make the majority — if not all — of his starts at the Triple-A level.

Bailey twice threw in Arizona over the last week, first two simulated innings of 15 pitches each and then two simulated innings of 20 pitches each.

Bailey said he felt good and threw all his pitches.

“It’s certainly one of those testing opportunities to see where he is,” Price said. “The thing is, he’s gotten off to a good start before in his rehab and we pushed it back a little bit after he had some issues with his elbow. He’s looked phenomenal, really, ever since he picked back up his throwing program again. I think we’ve all got our fingers crossed that everything’s going to go on without a hitch and that he’ll continue his rehab protocol until he’s ready to pitch for us later in July.”