Beware the Ides of March today!
Johnny Cueto - who shares initials with Julius Caesar, which is not a good omen for March 15th - takes the mound for the Reds for the first time since coming back from the WBC. Cueto managed to capture the only win for the Dominicans in that tournament when he pitched 4.2 innings of shutout ball against the Panamanian team. Today we get to see if he learned anything from hanging out in the dugout with Pedro Martinez during those games.
Nick Masset will follow Cueto out of the bullpen. Despite my best efforts of rooting against him, it sounds like Masset is still being considered for the 5th spot in the rotation. I don't imagine that he has a serious shot though given the performances we've seen from Owings and Bailey so far this Spring. After Masset expect to see a bevvy of guys that won't likely make the team.
The Reds are facing off against 24-year old left-hander Brad Mills. Mills has never pitched above Double-A, but he is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA so far this spring. This is a critical game for Chris Dickerson. I think he's going to make the team, but if he can start getting some hits off of lefties, he may put himself into the starting lineup more often.
Lineups after the jump.
Game time is 1:05pm. The game is on 700WLW with Marty and Jeff Brantley, but there is also Gameday.