Early Reds Spring Training awards

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- We’re about two weeks into Reds Spring Training, and if there’s a word to label it, “uneventful” might be the best choice. That isn’t a bad thing. Everybody in camp has been doing their work and there have been minimal disruptions on the injury front.

As for moments of interest, at least to me, there have been several. So, without further ado, here are some early Spring Training awards.

The ‘Hey, Don’t Forget About Me’ Award: Matt McLain

During Saturday’s 4-3 Cactus League opener win over the Guardians, the shortstop prospect (Reds No. 5 last year) slugged a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning that banged off the scoreboard.

Since McLain was Cincinnati’s first-round pick in 2018, the club traded for two shortstop prospects in Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo and, of course, has top prospect Elly De La Cruz. But McLain has no plans to get lost in the shuffle.

“He was here last year, he's even more comfortable this spring,” Reds manager David Bell said of McLain. “We were talking about [how] it's never a direct path the way you draw it up. Last year he experienced a lot, and he'll be better for it this season.”

Best spring drills creator: J.R. House

House, the Reds’ catching and third-base coach since 2019, gets the award for using a stuffed hippo in a drill like this:

“It was a fun little drill to mix up the monotony of Spring Training exercises,” Reds catcher Curt Casali said. “He can pull it as fast as he wants or as slow as he wants. Something in your peripheral that wasn’t quite as big as a person. It’s trying to get the timing of doing a blind tag.”

That’s just one of many drills House has created for the catchers over the years, both at camp and during the regular season.

“J.R. keeps everything creative,” Casali said. “We appreciate all the cool thoughts he has. He definitely keeps things interesting. He’s a great catching coach, and we work our tails off, but at the same time, he’ll mix in new wrinkles just to keep it from getting boring.”

Best comeback effort from a back injury: Lucas Sims

Sims was limited to six appearances in 2022 because of a back injury. He’s looked strong in camp outings and in his spring debut on Saturday. After allowing a homer to his first batter, Sims retired the side in order with two strikeouts.

“He was throwing a lot of breaking balls, which is definitely a part of the game, and it looked really sharp,” Bell said. “His fastball is going to be more effective when he’s ahead in the count, and he just got behind a little bit on that. But other than that, he looked great. It was great to see him back out there.”

Best mustache: Andrew Abbott

Abbott, who finished 2022 ranked by MLB Pipeline as Cincinnati’s No. 10 prospect, has reddish-blonde hair and wears a mustache not unlike the one NBA and Celtics legend Larry Bird sported in the 1980s. But Abbott's was actually inspired by his dad.

“I don’t put anything in it, [just] trim it up and make it look presentable,” Abbott said. “I can barely grow anything else. We just rock with the cards we’re dealt.”

Not afraid to go for it in spring: Jonathan India

On Saturday, India dove headfirst twice in the first inning -- once to steal third base, and then to score on a sacrifice fly.

Best drip: Ricky Karcher

A reliever prospect who finished last season at Triple-A Louisville, Karcher has a look while wearing large shades and in how he carries himself. It’s hard to explain, but fans will understand whenever the right-hander debuts in the big leagues.

Best chess player: TBD

Joey Votto has been the resident chess player on the Reds for a couple of years. But Votto may have company in young outfield contender Will Benson.