REDS BLOG

Reds use nearly entire roster

C. Trent Rosecrans
crosecrans@enquirer.com
Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price (38) stands in the dugout during the first inning Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Since the Reds went to Philadelphia without Joey Votto, manager Bryan Price has had to answer daily questions about whether he feels he's at a disadvantage with having just 24 players available from his active roster.

Votto's in Cincinnati dealing with his quad injury, while Reds general manager Walt Jocketty has not made a roster move, leaving Price playing short.

While Price had a full bench for the first two games of the series in Philadelphia, when Tony Cingrani was activated on Sunday and Tucker Barnhart was optioned to Triple-A, he was left with four men on the bench.

On Monday, he used all four -- and I once again asked if he felt handcuffed or limited by not having a full roster in the 15-inning win against the Nats.

Here's what the manager said:

"We obviously went through our entire roster, as did the Nationals. It just forces us to make different decisions and utilize our bench differently," Price said. "In certain situations we may have to utilize our starting pitchers to bunt or pinch-run or whatever. My concern is the depth of our bullpen tomorrow than our bench. We need a good start and have one guys be able to bounce back and pitch for us."

No starting pitchers were used, and his last position player, Ramon Santiago, sacrifice bunted as a pinch-hitter for J.J. Hoover in the 14th inning.