John Fay

jfay@enquirer.com

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- I'm working on a story for tomorrow's paper looking at the impact of injuries on the Reds. At least six players -- Aroldis Chapman, Mat Latos, Jack Hannahan, Skip Schumaker, Sean Marshall and Jonathan Broxton -- will start the year on the disabled list. Devin Mesoraco could also end up on the DL.

For that story, I asked manager Bryan Price a simple question: Is he confident this is survivable?

"I am confident. It looks like we'll have 80 percent of our starting rotation and the real challenge will be with our bullpen and just trying to get the right mix out there. We're still running out some premium guys, some guys that are coming off of some great successes – especially with (Sam) LeCure, (J.J.) Hoover, Manny Parra and we're still deciding on what we want to do with (Alfredo) Simon - if he's a better piece as a bullpen piece as opposed to a starter. We really only need a fifth starter on the sixth and then after that, we don't need him again until the 15th or so. His value may be better served as a relief pitcher. We haven't made that final decision yet. Considering not having Chapman, not having Marshall or Broxton to start the season, he could help influence that back end of those ballgames quite well."

"Those are the challenges. I just don't see where we can't weather this storm. We have good players. Our starting lineup – with the question mark of Mesoraco – our everyday lineup is intact. Our bench will still be strong, even minus Schumaker. We'll weather the storm missing a couple of starts with Latos and I think that the guys we have in the back end of our bullpen are very capable guys. I think the challenge is if our starters don't get off to a good start to the season. That's where we might be challenged simply because we'd be running out less experienced guys into the games those middle innings."

Price went back to the question later in the media session.

"As much as there are questions to the roster: Who are the best 25 guys to take? Who are the best bench guys? Who are the best relief pitchers? Is (Brett) Marshall better in our rotation than (Alfredo) Simon? Whatever, I think all things considered, like John has referenced and we've been beat up a little bit over the course of the offseason and the early spring I really do feel fortunate in the sense that we've got some good players, we have some good non-roster players in camp that I feel can fortify our club until we're fully healthy. I feel strongly about that.

"I don't want to be fooled by spring training but just other things that you see beyond guys that are hitting .300 or have 10 RBIs. It's about how they go about their business, how they work, if they're a good fit on our club from a personality standpoint, what strengths and weaknesses they have and how does that help our ball club? So when you talk about guys like (Roger) Bernadina, (Ramon) Santiago, (Chris) Nelson, (Jason) Bourgeois, we've got Corky (Miller). You know what you're going to get when those guys are there. They don't have to carry your club but they can certainly fortify it."

More on this later.