Reds manager Bryan Price talks about upcoming season in Caravan visit

CHILLICOTHE — The Cincinnati Reds are coming off a disappointing and tough season last summer, and though they've had a relativity quiet offseason, those within the organization feel they have the pieces in place to improve in 2015 ... they just have to have health on their side.

With pitchers and catchers reporting for the Reds on Feb. 20, the Reds are less than a month away from officially starting baseball activities, and for Reds manager Bryan Price, he's excited to get his second season started.

"There's always the excitement. It's funny, the baseball season is just that. It's seasonal," Price told The Highland County Press during the Reds Caravan at the WBEX 1490 AM radio station in Chillicothe. "When the season's over, you go through your month if you haven't won the World Series or made the playoffs, and then you get in closer to the winter meetings and get excited about getting your team together.

"There's no doubt, when you get into January, you're thinking about how you can't wait for the start of spring training, getting your guys together and putting together your ball club. I'm no different than anybody else. I can't wait to get started."

Last season, the Reds finished fourth in the NL Central with a 76-86 record, 14 games out of the top spot in the division, which was won by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Price will begin his second season as the Reds skipper, as he took over the post after the Reds fired Dusty Baker following the 2013 season. Price was formerly the Reds' pitching coach.

That first season for Price as the manager of the Reds was full of injuries to starting pitchers, to former NL MVP Joey Votto and to former All-Star second baseman Brandon Phillips. Not to forget the bullpen of the Reds didn't pitch up to standards last season.

It just wasn't a good season for the Reds.

"We certainly didn't anticipate all the injuries," Price said when asked about the struggles of last season. "Sean Marshall was a little bit of a question mark coming into spring training last year, and Jonathan Broxton, but we didn't see the Votto, Phillips, (Homer) Bailey and (Mat) Latos issues happening.

"We certainly thought we'd have Sean Marshall last year. As much as we talk about all of the big guys last year like Jay Bruce and (Skip) Schumaker, who got hurt during spring training, the loss of Sean Marshall as an impact pitcher in the bullpen the past couple years has really hurt."

Marshall is on pace to return for the '15 season.

"To have him (Marshall) back and have him healthy would be a big boost," Price said. "I think we're going to come in really close to 100-percent healthy."

Though the Reds traded Latos to the Miami Marlins this offseason for prospects, it was a move the Reds had to make if they want to be able to compete to re-sign All-Star pitcher Johnny Cueto after the upcoming season, with this being the final season of his contract.

Cueto was second in the Cy Young Award voting in the NL last season, only trailing Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"The dynamics of our situation is we have a lot of good young players that are getting a lot closer to free agency. One guy that everyone's talking about right now is Johnny Cueto because he's only got one year left, and a lot of big contracts are being signed out there," Price said. "Will the Reds be able to compete for Johnny? We'll find out.

"We're in a situation where we have to make really smart decisions, and if we spend too much money on single individual players, it's not going to allow us to be competitive putting good players around them. There's some tough decisions to be made there, and that's what really drove the trades of Alfredo Simon and Mat Latos – the simple fact that we can't pay everyone on this ball club."

For the Reds, it is about getting younger on the field but still being a competitive ball club as well. It is a tough road to travel for a team whose fan base now expects to reach the postseason each season and to compete for a Central division title.

The Reds reached the postseason in 2010, '12 and '13, but it still comes back to being a younger team that can still compete, which the Reds did by trading Simon and Latos, two-fifths of their starting rotation last season.

"We had to get younger, we had to refurbish and restock our minor league system so we have depth going into this season," Price said. "We think we did with that with the (Anthony) DeSclafani kid, that he can compete immediately for a spot on our rotation and be an impact new player for us. We think we did really well in the trades."

Replacing the likes of Simon and Latos for the Reds might be a little easier for them if Tony Cingrani can prove he belongs back on the roster, as he didn't produce during parts of last season, eventually being sent back down to the minors.

"I've got nothing but good reports on Tony (Cingrani), and there certainly won't be anyone working harder than Tony to be ready for the season," Price said. "As much as we'll talk about the Cuetos and Vottos and their contributions, the impact will be felt most by the players who are able to help us who were either not with us or not able to help us last year.

"Tony is one of them, and DeSclafani is one of them and Marlon Byrd will be another one. Their ability to come in and impact our club is going to be significant in our ability to compete in our division."

Opening Day will be on Monday, April 6, as the Reds will host the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park.