Worth noting

• Left fielder Ryan Ludwick, who has not played since Sept. 19 at Chicago because of a tight left groin, is close to getting more aggressive with his rehab.

"I think he's gotten over the hump," Speier said. "We're [looking] for him to start maybe doing some real strong weight-bearing things on that hip and groin area and see if we can get some baseball things involved with that."

• The Reds are trying to finish with the best record in baseball, a feat the team hasn't achieved since the strike-shortened 1981 season. Because of the split-season format used that year, when they finished second after both halves, the Reds still missed the postseason.