By HAL McCOY
FOXSportsOhio.com
Feb. 22, 2011
GOODYEAR, Ariz. � Edinson Volquez is living up to his mentor�s challenge and loving every millisecond of it.
When Volquez walked into his first Cincinnati Reds spring training camp before the 2008 season, they handed him uniform No. 36, the same number worn by Mario Soto, one of Cincinnati�s all-time great pitchers and now the team�s roving minor-league pitching instructor.
�When Soto saw that, he told me, �You better be good. You better be great. Great pitchers wear that number.�
Said Volquez, �I was going to change it, change to �45,� but when Soto said that I decided to keep it.�
And he is living up to Soto�s challenge. Tuesday morning, Reds manager Dusty Baker announced Volquez will be the team�s Opening Day starter March 31 against the Milwaukee Brewers in Great American Ball Park.
Aaron Harang, no longer with the Reds, started the previous five Opening Day games, matching the club record held by . . . Mario Soto.
�I was surprised,� said Volquez, who didn�t start a game last season until Aug. 17 after recovering from Tommy John surgery. For the remainder of the year he was 4-3 with a 4.31 ERA in 12 starts.
Many believed the Opening Day starter would be Bronson Arroyo, who was 17-10 with a 3.88 ERA last season. Arroyo, though, prefers to avoid the pomp and circumstance that is Opening Day in Cincinnati.
He was asked to start Opening Day, 2010, but asked out. And in a discussion with Baker this spring, Arroyo said, �Dusty told me he thought it would be better for me and the team if I started the second game and I agree.
�Opening Day in Cincinnati is a big, big thing, and I prefer to be standing on the base-line when they announce the lineups, soaking it all in, instead of warming up in the bullpen. On days I pitch, from the time I get up in the morning until the time I walk to the mound I�m pretty much worthless and in a fog, so I don�t need the added distractions of Opening Day.�
Volquez is accepting it with a coast-to-coast smile.
�I thought Bronson or Johnny Cueto might get it � two guys who signed big contracts after I just signed for one year,� he said. �Pitching the first day, being No. 1, is unbelievable. Coming back from Tommy John surgery � I�ve come a long way.
�They�re giving me the opportunity to be No. 1 this year, so I guess they�re seeing something different in me, and Dusty realizes I can pitch the first day. I�ll take it.�
Volquez said Soto told him last year, �'I want you to be a No. 1 pitcher,' and now I�m getting the opportunity. He jokes about his number and told me, �Hey, you better be a No. 1 starter because I used to be No. 1 with the same number. That�s a lucky number��
Soto said Gaylord Perry, who also wore �36,� once told him the same thing. �When I was a rookie we were in San Diego and Perry was walking to the bullpen to warm up. He saw my number and said, �Let me see that. You better be good because anybody who wears that number has got to be good.�
Speaking of coming a long way, before Volquez came to Cincinnati in a trade that sent outfielder and AL MVP Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers, Volquez felt abused by the Rangers. He was labeled a problem child and once was sent from the majors all the way down to Class A as a punishment.
�You know I heard about all the trouble he went through in Texas, but ever since he came here all I see from him are good things,� said Soto. �We had a lot of talks his first year in spring training about things outside baseball. Every time we�d talk he always would bring up Texas. I�d tell him, �No, no, no. You�re here now, forget it.�
�And he has and I never see anything wrong with him,� Soto added. �He is a hard worker, he hangs around these guys and feels a whole lot better. We all knew what kind of pitcher he was. He is mature now, pitching a lot better and he has forgotten about Texas. He doesn�t mention it. It�s all red now and he told me this week how happy he is. He has the stuff to be No. 1 and that�s saying a lot with this staff.�
Starting Volquez ahead of Arroyo means Baker can split up hard throwers. It will be the hard-throwing Volquez, the soft-throwing Arroyo and then the hard-throwing Cueto.
The �four� and �five� starters are yet to be determined, but it is likely soft-throwing left-hander Travis Wood will be No. 4 and the fifth spot is between hard-throwing Homer Bailey and soft-throwing Mike Leake.
Added Baker, �Sometimes it boils down to who can handle it. Arroyo doesn�t like to do it. Cueto just signed a big contract and doesn�t need any more pressure. He�ll be trying to prove he is worth that contract. I mean, is Homer Bailey ready to be No. 1 (No)? Is Johnny Cueto ready to be No. 1 (No)? Is Travis Wood ready to be No. 1 (No)? Is Mike Leake ready to be No. 1 (No)?
�We�re very confident in Edinson Volquez,� said Baker. �Not much bothers Edinson. At least he doesn�t show it. And we know Opening Day in Cincinnati is big, but we have 162 games to think about.�
While Arroyo and Cueto signed long-term contracts, Volquez signed for one year � even though the Reds offered him a four-year deal.
The numbers, though, weren�t right for Volquez. Because he is coming off Tommy John surgery, �The team offered me four years at $17 million. Then they offered four years at $21 million. But I think I can pitch good this year and get a better deal,� said Volquez.
Cueto signed a four-year deal for $27 million. Volquez, taking a major risk but confident he can prove he is worth more, signed a one-year $1.7 million deal.
�This is a start � pitching Opening Day and being the team�s No. 1 pitcher,� he said.
