Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Price to use postponement for Cueto's benefit

CINCINNATI -- With one exception, the Reds are keeping their rotation in order following Saturday's postponement vs. the Cubs. That means no one is being skipped to keep ace Johnny Cueto pitching on his usual four days of rest. Cueto will make his next start on Tuesday vs. the Brewers.

"Johnny threw 125 pitches in his last start," Reds manager Bryan Price said on Sunday morning. "It doesn't make any sense to try to keep him on pace when he could probably use the extra day."

The 125 pitches Cueto threw over his eight innings on Wednesday at Milwaukee were a career high.

"We ask a lot of Johnny," Price said. "We certainly asked a lot of him last year and he answered the bell. … I think this is a great opportunity to give him an extra day."

The one change Price is making is moving Mike Leake up ahead of Homer Bailey. Leake, who pitched Friday vs. the Cubs will now pitch Wednesday vs. the Brewers on his normal rest. Bailey, whose most recent start was last Thursday, will start Thursday vs. the Braves in Atlanta.

"So he has a couple of extra days, just because he's still in that rehab process of building his endurance, bouncing back and coming off that surgery," Price said of Bailey, who had his flexor mass tendon repaired in September. "It will get a lot easier as we get closer to the late spring and early summer than it is right now. That just makes sense."

Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Mark My Word, and follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon.
Read More: Cincinnati Reds