Jones notches save in Reds scrimmage

     In his unofficial Reds debut, Pendleton Countian Nate Jones put together a solid outing as he recorded a save in a third-inning intersquad scrimmage on July 9 at Great American Ballpark.
    He looked sharp during his outing as he retired three of thr four batters he faced, yielding only a walk to veteran left handed slugger Joey Votto.
    The Reds staff told Jones that they clocked him at 95-97 mph, a speed that he said, “I’ll take that.”
    Reds Manager David Bell continued his praise for the non-roster invitee.
    “All along we have talked about if he is healthy, he can help us,” he said while indicating that Jones looks healthy.
    He went on to say that while Jones has spent his career in the American League limiting the amount of time Bell has seen him, he can see why Jones has had success.
    “He is not a comfortable at bat. The delivery, the angle, it does not look fun. He has tools for both sides of the plate. I can see why he has been so good.”
    Bell likened Jones to a former Yankees and Mariners reliever, Jeff Nelson,  that he did not enjoy facing.    Afterwards, he described the excitement he felt in fulfilling a lifelong dream of pitching for the club he grew up watching and attending games.
    “It was a pretty surreal feeling, that’s for sure, described the veteran righthander.
    “After watching games from the stands growing up, then going to pitching there was nothing less than awesome.”
    Jones was also satisfied with how his right arm has felt during the last few months of training as he prepared to rejoin his teammates to start the 2020 campaign.
    “I’m thankful so far during summer camp my arm has responded and rebounded well after each outing. And I’m excited to get the season going and winning ball games as a Cincinnati Red.”
    The highlight of Jones outing was his duel with Votto, widely regarded as one of the best hitters of his generation and a potential Hall of Famer. Although Votto drew a walk, Jones says his mentality on the mound remains consistent with every hitter he faces.
    “Joey Votto is one of the best hitters in the game for a reason. He knows the strike zone like the back of his hand, so its few and far between when he swings at a ball out of the strike zone. It was fun facing him after watching him all these years. I felt like I did job of attacking hitters in this outing, and when you put up a zero, you can’t beat yourself up too bad.”
    Jones and his Reds teammates open the regular season at home versus the Detroit Tigers on July 24.