Early arrivals to camp

Good afternoon from the Reds Spring Training complex in Goodyear, my home away from home until the end of March…

I am an early arrival to the camp…the only other person in the media room was Michael Keating, a photographer from the Enquirer. But several players have long been in camp ahead of Wednesday’s report date for pitchers and catchers and Friday’s for the full squad. Chris Valaika told me he’s been here since Jan. 1. Matt Maloney came out Feb. 1.

Chris Heisey was also early.

“Too much snow in Pennsylvania,” Heisey said.

Among the other guys I saw today were Dontrelle Willis, Mike Leake, Bill Bray, Logan Ondrusek, Daniel Ray Herrera, Yonder Alonso, Ryan Hanigan, Jared Burton, Justin Lehr and Fred Lewis.

A bunch of pitchers were throwing in bullpen sessions today — Lehr, Leake, Willis, Bray, Jordan Smith and more. It was nice to hear the pop in the catchers’ mitts again. I also like hearing the clank, clank of spikes on concrete as guys were on the sidewalks outside near the bullpen area.

On the site later today, I will have a story on Leake. He’s definitely preparing himself to not only get a rotation spot, but to be strong enough to pitch the entire season.

The part that will make you envious — the weather has been spectacular since I arrived. A little chilly in the morning but 70s and 80s during the day. I’ve already got some color in my face.

I will have much more from camp over the next 40-plus days — both on the blog and Twitter and of course, on MLB.com/Reds.com. Hope you keep coming back for more stories and information.

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http://twitter.com/m_sheldon