Baker tries but no Sparky

Dusty Baker made the call. But, sadly, he doesn’t think Sparky Anderson is going to be able to make it to Reds camp.

“He said he’s feeling weak,” Baker said. “How often has he come back?”

Never , Baker was told.

“That tells you something,” Baker said.

Baker talked to Anderson in Saturday night. Anderson just got out of the hospital after 12-day stay. Beyond that, Anderson doesn’t like the attention on him, but Baker wanted to try to persuade him.

Baker did say he expects Joe Morgan to be among the guest instructors at camp.

More early-morning blogging:

--Left-hander Jeremy Affeldt will start the exhibition opener Wednesday against the Phillies in Clearwater. Matt Belisle will start home opener against the Twins Thursday.

--Baker on left-hander Matt Maloney: “Not only does he have good breaking stuff, he has deceptively quick late movement on his fastball. He’s not afraid to throw the ball inside to right-handers, which is one of t he toughest things to teach a left-hander to do because they don’t really trust that pitching area because it creeps back over the plate. Most of the left-handers I didn’t like to face were (threw inside to right-handers). If he can throw it inside like that, it means he can peel that plate – peel it like a banana.”

--Baker on Edinson Volquez: “He has an excellent arm. Whoever scouted him in this trade did an excellent job. He’s got a real good change-up. We’ve got to tighten up his breaking ball. Hopefully, he can continue to show improvement in his command. When you’ve got that kind of stuff, the next step is command. If you get command with that stuff, you’re going to be a heck of pitcher and make this trade look great.”

--Bill Bray and Bobby Livingston are the only players not participating in all drills, i.e., the reds have made through a week without any new injuries.