Young arms and old drills highlight Sunday at Spring Training

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Sunday featured the first day of live pitching at Reds camp in Goodyear.  We got to see some of the best young arms in the Reds system.

Left-hander Tony Cingrani was one of the first to take the mound. Cingrani was the Reds minor league pitcher of the year. He was 10-4 with stops at Bakersfield and Pensacola. He got into three Reds games near the end of the season.

He was followed by right-hander Daniel Corcino, a 22-year old native of the Dominican Republic who is listed as the fourth-best Reds prospect. He's known for his nasty slider, which is rated the best in the organization.

Later we got to see righty Chad Rogers, who started at Bakersfield and Pensacola in 2012.

All are in camp to impress and all are clearly ahead of the hitters who arrived at camp a few days after the pitchers. It's common to see hitters baffled by pitch speed and ball movement in the early days of camp. They'll catch up in due time.

There was also a chance to hit off a coach, which is a confidence builder at this stage of spring. Shin-Soo Choo was hitting everything that Billy Hatcher threw his way. If Hatcher came inside, Choo would take it down the line. If he left one on the outside corner, Choo hit it away into the alley. If he came down the middle, Choo answered with shots to center. Bench coach Chris Speier needled Hatcher for his inability to get a pitch past Choo.

There was also time reserved Sunday for the time-tested drills. Sunday's exercises put pitchers in different situations with runners on base. Balls were hit back to the pitcher who had nowhere to go with the throw. It's the kind of drills that often pays off during the regular season. Or sometimes they show that a pitcher isn't prepared or isn't paying attention.

So far, the pitchers have been healthy. Newly-acquired Manny Parra has been bothered by a sore neck, but he was throwing in the bullpen Sunday. And Bronson Arroyo was back on the field. He has been bothered for the past few days with flu-like symptoms.

Watch the video in the media player located on the left-hand side of the screen for more information on the goings on at Reds camp.