GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Two catchers who aim to work as one for the Reds, Tucker Barnhart and Curt Casali don’t compete over who should get more playing time behind the plate or much of anything else, really.

But there is one exception that brings out a rivalry of sorts between them.

“We collaborate in all of our scouting reports. We do it together. We actually compete in that way,” Casali said on Tuesday. “We try to maybe find the one missing piece of information that the other guy might not find. That’s the only time there is -- for the lack of a better phrase -- ill will. It’s ‘Oh I found this. Did you find that?’ That’s all in fun.”

Otherwise, Barnhart and Casali collaboratively advise each other while going over the scouting reports, how they work with pitchers and more.

“It’s a good relationship because we push each other to be better,” Barnhart said. “We both do that from a baseball perspective. I’d like to think I push him to be better. I think that helps us get the best out of each other.”

Reds manager David Bell has not named a starting or backup catcher. With Barnhart batting left-handed exclusively and no longer switch-hitting, he likely stands to get more playing time over the right-handed hitting Casali.

Bell noted that Casali would still receive “substantial playing time.”

“I don’t look at it as one and two,” Bell said. “It’s such a demanding position, especially the way our guys go about it and all the preparation they do. In some ways, they do double -- double the work any of other players on our team do. It’s very demanding. They are not going to play every single day, no matter what. I think we have a great situation. Both of them will play a lot.”

It’s been no secret over the last two offseasons that the Reds front office has looked around at adding a catcher. Two winters ago, the club pursued J.T. Realmuto before he was traded from the Marlins to the Phillies.

This winter, Cincinnati was aggressive in trying to sign free agent Yasmani Grandal before he went to the White Sox on a four-year, $73 million contract.

“I think it probably motivates me because it’s been two offseasons of that,” Casali said. “I’d be lying if I said I could ignore it. I can’t control anything. The only thing I can do is work my butt off and be the best catcher I can be for the Reds. If your next question is ‘Am I happy they didn’t do that?’ -- yeah, I’m thrilled. I want to be here. I want to compete for the Reds and the city of Cincinnati. They basically gave me my second life in the big leagues. I want to do what I can to repay them for that.”

The Reds’ efforts to look outside the organization for catching was motivated by a desire for more offense. Reds catchers were ranked eighth in batting, 10th in home runs and runs scored.

Defensively, the Barnhart-Casali tandem was solid and showed improvement under catching/third base coach J.R. House.

Among 64 qualifying catchers in terms of strike rate (on borderline pitches the batter takes), Statcast showed Barnhart and Casali were tied for 26th at 48.8 percent, just a tiny bit above MLB average (48.4 percent). Converting that rate to runs saved from extra strikes, Barnhart was tied for 19th with +2 runs, and Casali was tied for 29th at 0.

For Barnhart, that was dramatic improvement with his pitching framing technique. In 2018, he was ranked last in Major League Baseball with a 43.5 percent strike rate and minus-18 runs from extra strikes.

Casali had a 45.5 percent strike rate and minus-2 runs from extra strikes in 2018.

Cincinnati’s 2020 rotation is expected to be one of baseball’s best with three potential No. 1 starters in All-Stars Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Trevor Bauer plus Anthony DeSclafani and free agent addition Wade Miley.

The responsibility for keeping the game calling seamless will ultimately fall on Barnhart, Casali and likely third catcher Kyle Farmer.

“Whoever is back there, we want to be -- other than in appearance -- to feel like the same guy is back there all the time,” Barnhart said. “We’re out to solve the same puzzle. There’s no reason for us to want to do things differently or try to do things differently.”