After a delay because he missed a week of camp, Shogo Akiyama made his spring debut for the Reds on Sunday vs. the Giants. Akiyama played four innings in center field and was 0-for-2 with a strikeout and flyout in the 9-4, eight-inning loss to San Francisco at Goodyear Ballpark.
“It was two at-bats only, so I finished right away,” Akiyama said through translator Luke Shinoda. “My teammates were communicating with me and welcoming me back. They were worried about my wife as well. It was great to get back there and play with everyone.”
Akiyama returned to camp on Thursday after he missed a week to tend to his injured wife. On Feb. 25, Ayaka Akiyama was struck in the head by a large falling tree while walking on a trail at Sharon Woods just outside of Cincinnati. She was evacuated by medical helicopter to a local hospital and recently had surgery.
“It was not the type of injury that would get better suddenly. But for the level and seriousness of the injury she had, she is smiling and she’s doing really great,” Akiyama said.
Akiyama caught two fly balls in center field as part of his afternoon.
“It was the first time playing in a long time in center field,” he said. “I was also able to communicate with [Jesse Winker] and [Nick] Castellanos out there. I think that was the best part of it.”
Doolittle also debuts
Reds left-handed reliever Sean Doolittle, who signed a one-year contract with the club on Feb. 8, pitched the second inning of Sunday’s game in his first spring outing. Doolittle, who gave up three earned runs on three hits including back-to-back one-out home runs, called the appearance “a super mixed bag.”
“Like, it was the most Spring Training outing to ever Spring Training,” Doolittle said. “Probably gave up an Arizona homer, got teed off on another one, got ambushed by a guy for the single, I got the walk out of the way, we were a little bit inconsistent and we did some good things, too. I'm looking forward to my next one already for sure.”
Doolittle, who saw his velocity drop last season with the Nationals, was happy with where it was on Sunday as he threw 91-92 mph during a lengthy inning.
"At the peak of my career, when I was flashing 96, 97, relatively consistently, I never threw hard in Spring Training. I've touched 94 my whole career in Spring Training,” Doolittle said. “Judging by a lot of the swings I got on my heater, we had a bunch of guys that were late on it that were fouling it off. We got at least a handful of swings and misses on the heater. Probably could've been crisper on the execution of stuff, but for the first outing in camp, fastball-wise, I'm pretty happy with it, based on how my career's gone.”
Castillo close to debuting
Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo, who was a late camp arrival because of travel issues, is slated to face hitters on Monday in live batting practice. If all goes as planned, manager David Bell said, Castillo could appear in his first game on Friday vs. Seattle.
Kolozsvary takes Bieber deep
Spring Training "B" games carry less meaning than regular exhibition games because they are on the backfields with relaxed rules and mostly Minor League players. None of that mattered for Reds catching prospect Mark Kolozsvary on Saturday.
In a "B" game against Cleveland, Kolozsvary hit a first-pitch home run off of rotation ace and 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber.
“It was a pretty cool moment for me personally,” Kolozsvary said on Sunday.
Bell enjoyed seeing Kolozsvary having that type of success against a big league star.
“What a great swing,” Bell said. “It’s one at-bat, but as a young player, you step in against a pitcher like that, maybe the best pitcher in baseball and that can go a long way in your confidence to show, ‘Hey, I can do this against the best.’ That was really fun to see.”
Kolozsvary, who was with Class A Advanced Daytona in 2019 and spent time at the club’s alternate site while there was no Minor League season in ‘20, was given the well-worn “silent treatment” by teammates.
“Right when I got back to the dugout, I giggled to myself when I saw everyone not making a big deal about it,” Kolozsvary said.
“I’ve never been a huge fan of the silent treatment,” Bell said, “but as he was walking in, [pitching coach Derek Johnson] kind of whispered throughout the dugout, this would be the perfect time for the silent treatment. It was beautiful. It was perfect. He came in and he tried to keep a serious face on, and he had the best smile when he realized what was happening. Then everyone kind of jumped up. For a 'B’ game, it was a pretty special moment. All in all, really a good day, and that was definitely the highlight.”