Reds' Joey Votto to make his spring debut on Saturday

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — After missing the Reds' first four exhibition games, Joey Votto is scheduled to make his 2015 Cactus League debut on Saturday against the Royals in Surprise, Ariz.

Votto, who missed 100 games last season with a distal quadriceps strain injury in his left knee, was slightly behind the rest of the team and was held out as a precautionary measure.

The Reds put him through a series of drills on Thursday, including baserunning, sliding and "significant amounts" of ground balls and swings. Reds manager Bryan Price said Votto passed, and the team will have one more conversation with him on Saturday morning to finalize his spot in Saturday's lineup.

"I'm looking forward to having one more conversation with you guys about it, then it being a past subject," Votto told reporters on Friday morning.

Votto last played in a game on July 5 of last year. Because of the time off, he said, both he and the team felt a cautious approach was best this spring.

"You're better safe than sorry," Votto said. "Just make sure I'm in a good place before I start playing again. I felt like I was in a pretty good place going into spring, but we were making sure we were cautious and not taking any risks or any chances."

Votto will play first base and bat second against the defending American League champion Royals.

Price said he liked what he saw from Votto on Thursday.

"He was on the bases twice at full speed and sliding and then advanced workload, which included significant amounts of ground balls, way more swings than he was taking when he first arrived here and throughout the course of his offseason, so really more than anything the stamina to be ready," Price said.

On Friday, the Reds travel to Mesa to face the Cubs at 3:05 p.m. Left-hander

Tony Cingrani starts for the Reds against Cubs lefty Jon Lester

. Also scheduled to pitch for the Reds are left-hander Paul Maholm, right-hander Carlos Contreras, left-hander Ryan Dennick, left-hander Ismael Guillon, right-hander Pedro Villarreal and right-hander Daniel Corcino. The game will be broadcast on WSAI 1360-AM.