Marshall's first rehab outing goes smoothly

CINCINNATI -- In the first game of his rehab assignment for Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday, Reds lefty reliever Sean Marshall allowed one hit and one walk over a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Marshall, who missed all Spring Training games because of a sore left shoulder, was scheduled to pitch again for Louisville against Indianapolis on Wednesday night.

Reds bullpen coach Mack Jenkins watched Marshall's 20-pitch outing on television.

"We get the video stream here in our video room so he was able to go back and watch the performance," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "It looked like he threw free and easy. There were no impediments to his delivery. He threw the ball very well, was very sharp with his breaking ball and fastball. So he's right on track."

To be determined is if Marshall will be activated from the disabled list after Wednesday's outing for the beginning of the 10-game road trip Friday, or if he will need more rehab appearances.

When Marshall does return, he will take some of the load off of lefty Manny Parra, who has pitched well since the season started.

"It's a huge boost," Price said. "Manny has kind of been our do-it-all guy so far. He leads our team in appearances. He's pitched the ninth inning. He's pitched the eighth inning. He's pitched multiple innings. And he's also our only left-hander. … It would be nice to give him a reprieve by having some support with Sean. Certainly, we know Sean is one of the better left-handed relief pitchers."