Two key Reds relievers -- left-hander Amir Garrett and right-hander Lucas Sims -- have yet to get into a Cactus League game this spring because of injuries. Both have made progress that leave them -- and the club -- confident they will be ready for Opening Day on April 1.

Garrett and Sims faced hitters in batting practice on Wednesday, and both came away feeling good. They expect to get into what will likely be a "B" game on Saturday.

“There will be time. If they were starters, there wouldn’t be,” Reds manager David Bell said on Thursday. “How we would be able to use them to start the season and their importance to our team and our bullpen, they can be ready.”

Garrett has been dealing with left forearm tightness for much of camp, but he has been throwing from a bullpen mound for a couple weeks. He enjoyed getting to face hitters again.

“You know, it went better than what I expected,” Garrett said. “Overall, I feel really good about where I'm at right now. I came in today and I'm sore, it's normal soreness, but I feel pretty good where I'm at right now."

Sims had right elbow soreness interrupt his offseason throwing program in January, and he came to Arizona behind schedule. But he’s had no setbacks since he resumed throwing off a mound.

Wednesday’s session gave Sims no reason to pause.

“I finished it healthy, and I really felt like I was able to not miss a beat. I felt sharp. I felt strong, and I felt pretty in sync with all my pitches,” Sims said. “It’s just kind of getting that visual. You have a good idea of the zone when you’re just on the mound, but once the hitter gets in there, you’re able to visualize the different areas that you want to attack. I don’t know, back field or not, the competitive juices get going, and it’s firing up pretty quick.”

Garrett, 28, went 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 21 games last season. Left-handed batters went 1-for-23 (.043) with 12 strikeouts against him, while right-handed hitters were 9-for-39 (.231) with 14 strikeouts. He retired the first batter he faced in 18 of his appearances.

Despite the time away, Garrett has been working on a two-seam fastball that he can use to get lefty hitters out.

“I feel like that's going to be a pitch that's going to get me a lot more ground balls, that's a pitch I can actually stick inside to a lefty,” Garrett said. “I use that to righties a lot, too, but that's a pitch I feel like I can get it inside, instead of a four-seam. My four-seam, I try to go inside and I usually miss over the plate. With my two-seam, I can go in as much as I want, and that's in a spot where I want it to go.”

Sims, 26, was elevated from middle reliever to a key late-inning option in 2020, and he went 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 20 appearances during a breakout season.

“Knowing I don’t have to be ready to throw three, four, five innings and get stretched out, you’re really just worried about sharpness, your execution,” Sims said. “Each day of the throwing program, building back up, was very important to not lose any kind of feel, anything that I’ve worked on in creating that feel. Taking that throwing program very seriously and knowing that I was going to be a little bit behind, but make the most of that. I feel really, really good where I’m at right now.”

Cincinnati’s bullpen is expected to have some combination of Garrett, Sims and lefty Sean Doolittle on the back end, with nobody currently listed as the closer. Garrett and Sims came to camp wanting to compete for the role. Meanwhile, Doolittle has struggled in three of his four appearances this spring.

Garrett is confident he'll be ready to go when the regular season arrives.

“I've been throwing a lot of bullpens. [Tuesday], I was 92-94 [mph], that's really good for where I'm at right now,” Garrett said. “That was no adrenaline. … I don't really like pitching in too many games anyway, because I pitch a lot during the season. Wherever I need to get my work at, I get my work in the game, that's fine.”