Reds' Michael Lorenzen: Working with outfielders

Lorenzen was working with the outfielders Thursday for batting practice, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. "We've put together a plan for the whole spring, knowing we can adjust it at any time," Reds manager David Bell said. "We didn't want to go into each day not knowing what he's going to do. We all felt better, he did, too. He was part of putting it together."

Lorenzen will still work on pitching in game action first, but he'll get chances to hit and play in the outfield later in spring training games. "It's fantastic, the effort they're putting in," Lorenzen said. "A lot of the excuses were, 'You know, we don't want to overwork him.' Well, let's just sit down and talk about it then. They were willing to sit down and talk about it, which is one of the reasons why I love this staff so much and why I think the front office did a great job [hiring] this staff. They're willing to find solutions for problems."