GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds reliever Jared Hughes’ first season in Cincinnati was an unqualified success, but he’s not complacent this Spring Training. Hughes, who keeps detailed logs on the hitters he faces, did some inner reflecting about himself in the offseason.

“There’s always room for improvement,” said Hughes, who is in the second year of his two-year, $4.5 million contract. “Sitting down early in the offseason, I identified some things that I could definitely do. One of them is working on an offspeed pitch to lefties, more of a changeup or maybe a split-finger. I’ve been working on both of those pitches.

“So hopefully I can have one fully developed and ready by the beginning of the season.”

Hughes, 33, had a 1.94 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP and seven saves over 72 games in 78 2/3 innings during 2018 -- all career bests.

Keeping the ball down is Hughes’ bread and butter. According to Statcast, he used his sinker 76.6 percent of the time. Batters had cumulative launch angle of minus-4 degrees and hit .222 when Hughes threw the pitch. The ground-ball rate on all of Hughes' pitches was a career-best 65.9 percent.

“I really want to get ahead in the count with my sinker, making my sinker even better and more consistent with locating it,” Hughes said.

As for the offspeed pitch against lefties, Hughes feels like he needs to be less predictable. Against all hitters last season, he threw a slider 13 percent of the time, a four-seam fastball 8.2 percent and the changeup only 1.9 percent.

Of the 93 four-seam fastballs Hughes threw, 73 of them were to lefty hitters.

“Having more weapons is always good,” Hughes said. “There are some lefties in the NL Central that I’ve faced a ton that make adjustments against me. Last year I went with the four-seamer more often against those guys to get them off my sinker. To have one more weapon against them would be able to help.”

Hughes was non-tendered by the Brewers following the 2017 season and was the only free agent Cincinnati signed to a big league contract that offseason. He and David Hernandez formed a strong veteran setup duo for closer Raisel Iglesias. This season, new manager David Bell and pitching coach Derek Johnson plan to be more creative with their bullpen. Iglesias could get more high-leverage appearances earlier in games. Hughes and Hernandez could be options to close if Iglesias isn’t available in the ninth inning.

If Hughes indeed gets the final three outs more often in 2019, his chances for success improve with new tools in his bag of tricks.