Reds' Jay Bruce wants to be better than ever

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Reds outfielder Jay Bruce agrees to answer one more question about his knee.

"This is it," Bruce said. "This is your last chance. Ever. Ever."

So how's the knee?

"It's 100 percent," he said. "It's a non-issue."

Bruce's left knee, which he had surgery on to repair a torn meniscus on May 6, was obviously a factor in his lost season last year. He missed only two weeks after surgery. He ended up hitting a career-low .217 and a career-low 18 home runs.

How much the knee was a factor in that is impossible to say. But what is clear — now as it was during the season — Bruce is not blaming his struggles on the knee.

"I would never ever use it as an excuse," Bruce said. "But I wasn't healthy, and I just didn't play well. At the end of the day, I didn't play well and that's what matters. There's nothing to talk about. You can't say, 'Oh man, I should have done this, I should have done that.' Words mean nothing. It's all action. That's what I have to."

Reds hitting coach Don Long can't quantify the effect the knee had on Bruce's season either, but he thinks in the long run the rough year could help Bruce.

"As tough as the numbers were, I think he can learn from last year," Long said. "To go through that makes you stronger. It's not easy to go through, but I think it can give him more confidence going forward."

The only offseason concession Bruce made with his knee this offseason was to begin training sooner.

"I started three weeks earlier," he said. "That was more like getting back to 100 percent as far as the rehab went. Then after that, it was full speed ahead."

Bruce spent some time looking at video from last year to try to figure out what went wrong, but mostly he just tried to move on.

"I did a little bit of both," he said. "I look at tape when I feel like it's necessary. During the season last year, I saw some things that I thought I had to tighten up a little bit. But for the most part, it was: Get strong, feel athletic again, get back to the way I should feel."

Fans tend to blow very hot or very cold in the social media, 24/7 news cycle era. After last year, it's easy to forget how good Bruce has been in the past. He won the Silver Slugger Award as the best-hitting right fielder in the National League in 2012 and 2013. He made the All-Star team in 2011 and '12.

Bruce turns 28 three days from Opening Day, but he's 11th on the Reds' all-time home run list with 182. He's hit more home runs (174) than any right fielder in the majors over the last seven seasons. He has the second most RBI (522) of any right fielder in the majors over that same period.

Bruce is enormously talented. He has a powerful arm, an electric power bat and he runs well.

"No question, the talent's there," Long said. "The desire to be great is there. He has all ingredients to make himself a great player. He works hard. Even though he's done some great things, he wants to get better."

Bruce agrees. He doesn't want to get back to old Jay Bruce. He wants to be better than he was in 2012 and 2013.

"Absolutely," he said. "I would fully expect to be better than that. I kind of always felt like I've underachieved. There are some things I've got to get better at. I'm kind of selling myself short. That's where I'm headed."

The Reds overall are in a similar position to Bruce, i.e., they want to show that last year was an aberration.

"I think everyone in this room has a lot to prove," Bruce said. "If you've had a great year, you want to do better. If you have a terrible year, you want to do better. I think we've got the right group of guys to go out and take care of business.

"Talking about it doesn't do any good. You can the best team on paper, you can have the worst team on paper, you have to go out and play well. A lot of teams get hurt, a lot teams have injuries. Everyone is healthy or getting that way. We're looking forward to what's to come."

Bruce likes the moves the Reds made, particularly trading for Marlon Byrd and signing Burke Badenhop.

"I do like what we've done," Bruce said. "Those were areas they needed to address to improve on. I've heard great things about Marlon. I've faced him. I've played against Badenhop for a long time. Those guys are going to positives. I think those two guys can illustrate what we're trying to do — as far as attitude. I look forward to getting to know them better."

Bruce knows that the Reds won't be the favorite in the NL Central or even close.

"I don't care at all," Bruce said. "I don't think anyone else in here does either. Like I said, you have to play. I would think everyone knows pretty good and well what we have here when we're healthy. You figure out ways to beat the small roadblocks and bumps."