Race for Reds' rotation a dead heat - so far

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Eight games into the competition for the fourth and fifth spots in the Cincinnati Reds' rotation, it is about a six-way dead heat.

Left-handers Tony Cingrani, David Holmberg and Paul Maholm and right-handers Anthony DeSclafani, Jason Marquis and Raisel Iglesias have all pitched well. DeSclafani got roughed up a bit Monday in his start against the Angels, that was first real blip for one of the six this spring.

It's early. But it's encouraging.

"We'd have to have four more weeks of guys pitching the way they're pitching now to have that problem," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "I hope we do. It's nice to have difficult decisions to make as opposed to last year when we broke camp it was like 'Who's left standing?' We were picking from a much smaller group of potential quality players."

The Reds will actually have three openings for starters when they break camp. Homer Bailey is unlikely to be ready for that first turn in the rotation.

Let's look at the competitors:

- Cingrani: He looked healthy in his first outing of the spring. His fastball topped out at 94 mph. He didn't pitch after June of last year because of his shoulder. You can't judge his health based on two innings, but when Cingrani's fastball has its zip, he's very good. He went 7-4 with 2.92 ERA as a rookie in 2013.

- DeSclafani: Price has installed him along with Cingrani as the two favorites. He threw a ton of strikes in his first outing, and Price was impressed.

"Competition is great, it pushes everyone to go a little more," DeSclafani said. "They're going to take the best pitchers at the end of spring training, so it's good to be able to push yourselves.

- Holmberg: He came into camp in better shape this year. He's probably down the list right now, but you can't discount what he did in September of last year (2-1, 2.50 ERA). He was impressive Monday against the Colorado lineup in a split-squad game, going three scoreless innings. He allowed four hits, but he struck out four, stranding five runners.

- Marquis: You can't pitch much better than he has. He's gone five innings and hasn't allowed a hit. He faced the minimum nine in his second outing. He has 121 big league wins, but hasn't put up a sub-4.00 ERA since 2004.

- Iglesias: He was much better in his second outing than his first. He probably has the best stuff of the competitors, but he hasn't pitched competitively on a regular basis since 2013. Right now, there is no plan to give Iglesias a spring start.

- Maholm: He only allowed one hit over two innings in his only outing of the spring. He was good enough to get eight starts for the Dodgers last year before a torn ACL ended his season on Aug. 1. His career record — 77-100, 4.30 ERA — is skewed because he was rushed to the majors for the Pirates. He'll get his first start of the spring Wednesday against Kansas City.

At this point, Cingrani and DeSclafani remain the favorites. Marquis or Maholm is likely to be the fill-in for Bailey early, especially if Cingrani and DeSclafani win the spots.

"That to me suggests that a veteran guy in that other spot would be fairly important," Price said, "someone who knows how to manage a game and has pitched in the league and has had success in the league.

"I think that's why guys like Jason and Paul are here."

But, again, a lot can change.

"We've got almost a month more of spring training games that will help better define who our best 25 are and who our best 12 pitchers are," Price said.