GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Reds have yet to reveal whether they will have a seven-man or eight-man bullpen when they break camp. This much seems clear: they will likely carry a second left-hander besides Tony Cingrani to take one of the remaining spots.
That means either Lucas Luetge (pronounced LIT-key) or Wandy Peralta will make the team.
"I don't see Tony as your prototype left-on-left guy. I would like to have a lefty that has a little bit more of a breaking ball component to his mix," Reds manager Bryan Price said on Sunday. "I think there's a strong possibility that we'll have another left-hander in our pen, yeah."
Peralta, 25, had an 8.59 ERA in 10 games as a September call-up to the Reds last season and a 5.91 ERA in nine spring games. He worked one scoreless inning with two walks vs. the A's on Saturday.
Luetge, 30, was signed to a Minor League contract in November and in camp as a non-roster player. He has a 1.93 ERA in his eight spring games, including two scoreless innings with two walks and two strikeouts vs. Oakland. It was the first time he had to really battle out of a jam during camp.
"You need that in camp to show yourself and the team that when things aren't always there, you can get it going," Luetge said. "You're not going to be riled up or flustered by it."
Luetge spent all of 2016 in Triple-A, save for a four-day call-up to the Angels where he didn't appear. He had a 4.85 ERA in 48 games with Salt Lake but has 111 games of big league experience with the Mariners from 2012-15.
"They told me the scouting reports and info they had on me said I should be a big leaguer," Luetge said. "They want to see why I'm not because they don't understand why I wasn't. That gave me the confidence that they believe in me. I have a history of doing good things in the big leagues and I'm waiting for the opportunity again."
In the big leagues, right-handers are batting .299 vs. Luetge over his career, compared to .209 for left-handers.
"For me, there's certain things that jump off the page," Price said. "One was the natural cut to his fastball, which I thought would be very effective against right-handers. Then his ability to spin the breaking balls, curveball and slider. Being left-handed and being a reliever, the breaking ball becomes a pretty big part of what you do, especially if I'm going to match up to a left-handed hitter."
Worth noting:
• Reliever Raisel Iglesias, who has a bone bruise in his right elbow from a fall in the shower, long tossed from 90 feet on Saturday and felt no trouble. Price expected Iglesias to get one more outing before camp ended. He hasn't pitched since March 14 but Price was hopeful he wouldn't have to open the season on the DL.
"I'm hoping that the time off doesn't set him back so much that he couldn't be on the Opening Day roster," Price said.
• Pitcher Homer Bailey, recovering from arthroscopic elbow surgery last month, was scheduled to play catch for the first time on Monday.
• Utility player and bench candidate Tony Renda was listed as day-to-day after being hit by a pitch on his right wrist Saturday vs. the Cubs in Las Vegas.