LOUISVILLE -- The last time Homer Bailey threw a pitch from a mound in the big leagues was Aug. 7 of last year. He's ready to return.
Bailey threw 91 pitches, 56 of them for strikes, over 5 2/3 innings for Triple-A Louisville on Sunday in what is expected to be his final tune-up start before rejoining the Reds rotation following surgery on his right forearm last September. Bailey allowed four runs, three of them earned, on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in a 6-3 loss against Toledo at Louisville Slugger Field.
The final line wasn't great, but that may have been the least important aspect of Bailey's outing. He was essentially pitching in his final spring training game. He was scheduled to throw six innings and/or 90 pitches. That was accomplished. He came out of the outing feeling physically fine, although the next day is always the bigger test.
If all goes well the next few days, Bailey could be activated from the 15-day disabled list in time to take his place in the rotation next weekend when the Reds play a three-game series in St. Louis.
"I've been anxious for it since Sept. 4," said Bailey after the game. "What really helped me today was to see the advanced hitters, how they're reacting to stuff. I saw some things I wanted to see. Obviously these guys are not your A-ball guys. They have a plan of what they're doing up there. I needed to see where command of certain pitches were and how they felt getting off the mound again and having a good crowd like they always do in Louisville made it pretty nice."
Bailey had thrown only in minor league games while the Reds were in Arizona, building up his innings and pitch count steadily just as all the starters do. He was just a couple of weeks behind Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake and the others.
Bailey threw just 20 pitches in the first two innings, striking out two and giving up one of his two walks. Catcher Tucker Barnhart erased that runner, Jefry Marte, attempting to steal second base. The third and fourth innings were different as Bailey needed 45 pitches to get through those frames. A walk, double and sacrifice fly in the fourth allowed Toledo to erase a 1-0 lead the Bats had taken in the second inning on a solo home run by Josh Satin. Bailey threw a wild pitch that enabled the go-ahead run to score.
The Bats tied the game, 3-3, with a pair of runs in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Barnhart and a RBI single by Irving Falu. Bailey went to the sixth inning with 79 pitches thrown. An errant pick-off attempt by Bailey at second base led to another sacrifice fly and enabled Toledo to retake the lead, 4-3. Bailey's day ended after an error by Falu on a ground ball that should have been the final out of the inning.
Bailey was relieved by Sam LeCure, who retired all four batters he faced in 1 1/3 innings.
Bailey was on pace to throw 200-plus innings for a third straight season when he had to be scratched from a mid-August start because of trouble in his right forearm/elbow region. He had shut out Cleveland on four hits over seven innings in his last start, a game the Reds won 4-0, walking one and striking out eight in the process.
It turns out that Bailey suffered a torn flexor mass in his forearm.
Bailey has started 166 games in his career for the Reds. His innings pitched had increased four straight seasons and his ERA had lowered five straight seasons before last year when he was limited to 23 starts. He finished the season 9-5 with a 3.71 ERA.
He was pleased Sunday that his breaking ball was working well in the early innings.
"That's something this year I really wanted to focus on, is finding that curveball again," said Bailey. "I know coming up I always had a good curveball and then I've used my slider more the last year or two and it's kind of hit-or-miss. I threw some good sliders (today) and some of them were a little flat for my taste."
Bailey took the loss Sunday but said overall he was pleased with the work he got into this performance. Whatever his line looked like, it was unlikely to affect his expected return later this week.
"We're not putting a ton of value in the outing beyond making sure he feels really good," said manager Bryan Price on Saturday. "He doesn't have to pitch his way back on the ball club. He has to get his innings and pitches up."
