Notes: Strop has fun vs. old team; Bauer clarifies

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds right-hander Pedro Strop was all smiles in the wake of his first outing facing the Cubs since his departure from the organization this offseason.

Strop worked an inning of scoreless relief during Wednesday’s 6-6 tie, yielding one hit and picking up a strikeout.

“I enjoyed the moment, pitching against them,” Strop said. “Really competitive; it’s not a secret, those guys can swing the bat. I just went out there and tried to execute my plan and I was able to do it.”

His first out came on a deep drive to right-center field that was hauled in off the bat of catcher Victor Caratini, who caught Strop in 19 games last season. From there, he got outfielder Albert Almora Jr. to strike out swinging, mixing in his quick-pitch windup.

“It’s part of my weapons,” Strop said. “It’s not something that I’ll do every time or something crazy. I have my plan. When I study the hitters, I know what hitters I can do that to. Today, I did it to Almora because he has that high leg kick. So, I did it to him, kind of caught him off-guard. … It’s always been a part of my weapons, so I’m going to use it. So, you better be ready.”

It’s early in Strop’s tenure in Cincinnati, yet familiarity remains at the core of his effectiveness. Having worked previously with current Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson when he served as the Minor League pitching coordinator in Chicago, Strop was complimentary of getting the chance to work with Johnson once again.

“He’s really smart and has a lot of information, a lot of ideas and he’s really flexible working-wise,” Strop said. “He knows what he’s doing, and I think that he’s going to be really big on my season this year.”

Bauer 'just having fun'
Trevor Bauer stood in front of his locker Wednesday morning and insisted that by telling Dodgers first baseman Matt Beaty what was coming during the fourth inning of Monday’s Cactus League game that he was merely, “Just having some fun.”

Bauer noted that he wasn’t surprised how social media took hold of the incident, pointing out that teammate Derek Dietrich “dumped a bunch of gasoline on that fire” by providing specifics of what was happening during the team’s television broadcast.

Bauer has been highly critical of the Houston Astros and their sign-stealing incident that stems from 2017. Dietrich mentioned during the broadcast that Bauer indicating his pitches via a glove flip was a way of subverting the need for the opposition to steal signs.

While it may be news to many, Bauer said that he did the same thing on multiple occasions last season.

“Something that I’ll probably do at some point again this season,” Bauer said.

Left-handed liftoff
Dietrich and Josh VanMeter are competing with one another for a spot on the club’s Opening Day roster as left-handed bats off the bench that can also spell regulars around the infield and in the corner outfield spots.

On Wednesday, after VanMeter got the club on the board with a solo homer in the third, Dietrich went deep in the fourth, clobbering a drive to right-center off Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel for his second homer of the spring.

Vegas-bound
Manager David Bell will remain in Goodyear with the club over the weekend while bench coach Freddie Benavides will fill in as skipper for the two-game trip to Las Vegas that will see the Reds play the division-rival Cubs.

Some of the significant names that are scheduled to make the trip to Vegas are second baseman Mike Moustakas, outfielders Aristides Aquino and Jesse Winker, relievers Amir Garrett and Robert Stephenson and the club’s Nos. 3 and 4 prospects per MLB Pipeline, respectively, Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India.

Illness update
Winker is the latest Reds player to be sidelined due to illness. The bug has swept through the clubhouse as of late, with Nick Castellanos, who was also dealing with an illness, expected back in the lineup Thursday against Milwaukee.

Up next
The Reds send ace Luis Castillo to the hill for Thursday’s afternoon tilt vs. the Brewers with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET. Castillo has yielded four runs across 2 2/3 innings to start off Cactus League play but has gotten five of those outs via the strikeout. Additionally, Nick Senzel is expected to make his spring debut as the designated hitter. Milwaukee will counter with hard-throwing right-hander Freddy Peralta. Fans can watch the game live on MLB.TV.