CINCINNATI — It wasn't as if he needed to do it
because Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker already knew what relief pitcher
Sam LeCure is all about. But Baker is all about clear psyches for his players
and he wanted to be certain.
LeCure, a long relief pitcher, wasn't being used, 11 days of inactivity, a
forgotten man, anonymous in his bullpen chair.
Baker wanted to be sure LeCure knew he wasn't being used because it wasn't a
necessity. The starting pitchers were going deep into games, making LeCure's
role superfluous.
Before Baker could say a word, LeCure, a 28-year-old right hander from
Centertown, Mo., said it for him. "If I'm pitching, we're not winning. I
understand. I love to pitch, but if we're winning I don't care if I'm not
pitching," LeCure told him.
Baker smiled later after the meeting and said, "Now that's a team guy. He
hasn't had much action, but he knows why and understands and is happy about
it."
LeCure was a bit unhappy, but it wasn't about not pitching. It was about not
pitching well in the few times he did take the mound. So when starter Mike
Leake didn't make it out of the fourth inning Saturday night, LeCure came in –
after JJ Hoover worked 1 1/3 innings -- and pitched two scoreless, hitless
innings and the Reds beat the Rockies, 10-3.
Before Saturday, LeCure had given up runs in three of his previous four
appearances, staggered over a 16-day period. His record was 0-1 with a 4.30
ERA.
When LeCure took the mound Saturday, there were gasps in the stands and all
over Reds TV land. For a long time, LeCure has resembled cartoon cowboy
Yosemite Sam with long, unruly hair and a bushy mustache.
When he took the mound Saturday, his head was shaved to near baldness and his
mustache was trimmed down to Oliver Hardy size.
"I had to do something, try something new," LeCure said. "Change
something up. I have not been aggressive enough, not the way I was when I was
going good."
LeCure said Saturday night was an eye-opener for him. His aggression returned
and he contributed, which he thought he was not doing.
"The rest of the bullpen has been great, so that made it easier for
me," he said. "They've all been great and we're winning, so I don't
feel so bad. The bullpen has been outstanding in spite of some early
setbacks."
The Reds lost three components of its projected bullpen during spring training
when they injuries hit closer Ryan Madson and middlemen Nick Masset and Bill
Bray, all still absent (Madson is lost for the season).
But Aroldis Chapman, Jose Arredondo, Logan Ondrusek and Sean Marshall stepped
it up and general manager Walt Jocketty did some patchwork by acquiring Hoover
in a trade with the Atlanta Braves and rescued Alfredo Simon off the scrap heap
of the designated for assignment list.
"JJ has been great and Simon is nasty, just outstanding," LeCure said.
"That's what made me feel bad. I didn't think I was doing my part. And
when I went 11 days without pitching, it bothered me."
At first, LeCure thought it was because he wasn't effective, "And they
were afraid to use me, had lost confidence in me." Then he stepped back
and made the accurate assessment: It was because they didn't need to use him.
They weren't avoiding him.
"And the fact we were winning made it all better, too," he said.
"It is like Jay Bruce going 1-for-31. But we won seven of eight games
while he was doing that so he didn't feel like he might shoot himself in the
foot."
What LeCure likes about his bullpen buddies is the versatility and he said,
"There isn't a guy in that bullpen who can't go two innings. And that's
big. If there are one or two guys who can't pitch on a certain day, every guy
who is available can pitch two innings and pick up the slack."
LeCure, now bold and bald after Saturday's input, smiled and said, "I've
been low man on the bullpen totem pole and it bothered me, even though it is
easier to struggle when you're winning."
Then he ran his hand over his shaved skull and said, "Right now, it is a
good time to be a Redleg."
