Back of bubblegum card keeps you off the bubble

When Reds manager Dusty Baker was asked before Tuesday’s game how much weight he gives to a pitcher’s “most recent outing” when it comes to making the team, he turned the question on its head and talked about the hitters.
“(Looking at) ‘most recent outing’ would make you a frontrunner,” Baker said. “And I ain’t no frontrunner. I don’t look at ‘most recent outing.’ If that that was the case, half the guys wouldn’t (make) the team. If that was the case, (Edwin) Encarnacion wouldn’t even be on the team.
“I look at the baseball card; I look at what I think he might do; I know what he is doing. It’s a combination of things.”
Encarnacion is hitting .172 this spring. He was 1-for-5 Tuesday afternoon in the Reds 5-3 victory over the Phillies in Clearwater. The Reds evened their record at 14-14 in the Grapefruit League.