SARASOTA, Fla. — It took Dennys Reyes awhile to get into Red Sox camp and some more time before he could get into a game. While waiting, he made sure he would be ready to go.
“I tried to prepare myself as good as I can so I can be as ready as I can for the competition,” Reyes said after throwing 14 pitches in a 1-2-3 inning against Baltimore on Saturday in his Red Sox debut.
The 33-year-old Reyes struck out the first man he faced on four pitches and then induced a pair of easy groundouts. He focused on staying down in the zone and succeeded in doing so.
“I was able to keep my pitches low with movement, so that helped me out,” Reyes said. “I was throwing my fastball down, all my pitches were down today.”
Bench coach DeMarlo Hale, managing the 4-4 tie with Terry Francona in charge of the Florida game at home, said that “for a first outing, it’s pretty good.”
While Reyes was pleased with staying down with the fastball, Hale liked what he saw of the off-speed stuff.
“I thought he was solid,” Hale said. “His breaking ball had some bite, underneath some bats.”
Reyes was signed to a minor league deal last month after going 3-1 with a 3.55 ERA for St. Louis in 2010. The left-hander is 13-4 with a 2.63 ERA in 325 games over the last five years, three with Minnesota and a pair with the Cardinals, and is one of a handful of candidates fighting for one of the final bullpen spots.
