4. Missed chances:

Bronson CINCINNATI — Arroyo could make his return to the starting rotation for the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday in the fifth game of the season.

Arroyo threw 90 pitches to catcher Devin Mesoraco on Sunday in a simulated game. On Monday, before a 4-3 loss to the Phillies on opening day, Reds manager Bryan Price said Arroyo threw well.

“The reports on everything he did were very, very positive,” Price said. “I’m really happy with how that worked out.”

Arroyo, 40, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2014 because of two reconstructive arm surgeries.

Price wasn’t ready to announce Arroyo as the starter for the 2:15 p.m. Saturday game against the Cardinals in St. Louis.

“He hasn’t done anything to discourage us from thinking he can make that start,” Price said.

Having Arroyo in the rotation gives the Reds an experienced mentor for the younger pitchers.

“The impact of having Bronson on a young staff will pay dividends,” Price said.

Veteran Scott Feldman started Monday for the Reds and took the loss, allowing three earned runs in 42/3 innings. In the next three games, the Reds go with three young pitchers: Brandon Finnegan, 23; Rookie Davis, 23; and Amir Garrett, 24. Davis and Gar- rett will make their big-league debuts.

Catcher Tucker Barnhart will advise Davis and Garrett to approach it as normal as possible.

“There’s a little more riding on it and more pressure,” Barnhart said, “but you just embrace the moment and don’t forget it’s the only debut you’ll ever have in the big leagues. Try to pitch your game, trust the game plan and go from there.”

Barnhart, in his third season with the Reds, earned his first opening day start Monday. He went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Mesoraco started the last opening day. Barnhart said his parents, wife and sister all traveled from his home- town in Brownsburg, Ind., to see the game.

“Being able to start is a dream come true,” he said. “It’s very special to me.”

The Reds began the season with seven rookies on their roster for the first time, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They have the youngest roster in baseball with an average age of 26 years and 355 days.

Drew Storen intentionally walked Michael Saunders in the seventh inning. It was the first no-pitch intentional walk in Reds history. A new rule allows pitchers to issue intentional walks without throw- ing a pitch.

Looking ahead: Young roster: Historic moment: Next game:

Finnegan will start at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday against the Phillies’ Jerad Eickhoff. Finnegan was 10-11 with a 3.98 ERA last season, his first full season with the Reds.

“The challenge I’ve put in front of him is to really push to continue to get better,” Price said of Finnegan. “He had a solid season last year, but there is so much room for improvement. He goes as his command goes.” He gave up three runs, two homers before getting five outs.

Everybody says CINCINNATI — they can’t stand moral victories, but sometimes beggars can’t be choosers.

For a team like the 2017 Cincinnati Reds — not expected to contend this season — that is particularly true.

Which brings us to opening day starter Scott Feldman.

Signing the lifetime 71-77 starter in January was not something that excited many, if any, fans.

If a team is going to lose, it might as well lose with exciting young pitchers with elec- trifying fastballs, knee-buck- ling curves and whiplike slid- ers, right?

Not necessarily. At least not all the time.

Manager Bryan Price reit- erated after the game some- times he needs to know he is getting a solid outing every few days. The ceiling might not be the same, but his staff can’t absorb too many of the lowest lows youngsters some- times fall into and expect the club to be in good posi- eight-hole hitter Freddy Galvis.

Those home runs were harbingers of bad things for the Reds’ 2017 debut. Too much of it was a lot like 2016, although last season’s Reds won their first three games of the season, also against the Phillies.

The Phillies won this one 4-3 on a dark, dank, rain-spitting afternoon — a game made close with two outs in the ninth inning when Scooter Gennett hit a two-run home run.

Feldman didn’t make it out of the fifth inning. After giving up three runs and six hits in the first three innings, he settled into his assignment and stayed with it until he put two aboard on a double and a walk in the fifth inning and had to leave — another short start by a Reds rotation member, putting the onus on a weak bullpen.

The bullpen, though, was stalwart on this day as five pitchers (Barrett Astin, Blake Wood, Drew Storen, Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias) stifled the Phillies on one run (given up by Wood), three hits and three walks over the last 4⅓ innings.

Unfortunately, until Gennett unloaded, the Reds offense wasn’t offensive at all and very much like a lot of last season. They were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, stranded seven runners and hit into three double plays.

Feldman gave up three runs, seven hits, walked tion to capitalize when the highs come around.

And yet not only did Cincinnati fail to get the win in Feldman’s Reds debut, he did not even pitch enough innings (42/3) to qualify for a win if he’d had a lead when he exited.

He stayed alive, though, after giving up three runs and a pair of homers before he had gotten five outs. He shut the Phillies out the rest of the way.

Thinking back to last spring and early summer in Cincinnati, that’s actually kind of a big deal.

So, too, are the bullpen’s 4⅓ innings of one-run ball after Feldman’s early exit in what was ultimately a 4-3 loss.

“I think that goes without saying,” Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart said of the performance of the relievers.

They kept the game within reach, close enough that Scooter Gennett’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth brought the tying run to the plate.

Billy Hamilton flied out to end it, but there were things to build on.

“You see the shutouts, the starts that guys go seven plus innings and strike out 12, but you lose sight of when you two and struck out six over his 42/3 innings.

And what the Reds did, or didn’t do, at the plate was too reminiscent of last season. They filled the bases with no outs in the third and scored only one run on Billy Hamilton’s sacrifice fly that was followed by a double play by Jose Peraza.

Then they filled the bases with one out in the fourth but didn’t score because Zack Cozart flied to shallow left and Tucker Barnhart flied to deep left.

Feldman earned praise from manager Bryan Price.

“It was a rough start for Scott: The first guy hits a home run, and then Galvis hits a home run,” said Price. “He gave up one in the first and a couple in the second. One of the reasons I thought Scott could handle this (opening day assignment) was that was a game that could have gotten away, one of those games that everything falls apart, and it is quickly a 7-0 ballgame, and you’re playing it out. He didn’t do that. He got us out of it and almost finished the fifth. He was able to limit the damage.”

Feldman said there was no difference from his shaky start to his resurrection.

“I really felt fine the whole time,” he said. “I made a couple of poor executions on a couple of pitches, and unfortunately the ball went out of the yard. Executionwise, I wasn’t as good as I need to be, and my pitch count got up way too high.”

Feldman used up 99 pitches while his coun- give up three quick runs in the first and second inning and only one more throughout the rest of the game,” Barnhart said. “You kind of lose track of those, but you can’t really speak enough about the bullpen and Scott bearing down out there and keeping us in the game.”

Standing in front of his new locker after the game, Feldman wasn’t ready to take a bow for his performance.

“I think anytime you don’t even make it through five, it’s tough to try and pull too many positives from that, but from a stuff standpoint, I feel like I’m right where I need to be,” the 34-year-old said. “I feel healthy and good, and my arm feels great. I just need to execute the pitches better and throw some more innings.”

As for what changed as the game went on, Barnhart credited getting a better idea of what Feldman needs to throw when he’s not quite himself.

That’s a lesson he plans on taking into their next start together — hoping to get more than a moral victory as a result. terpart, Jeremy Hellickson, used only 67 to get through five-plus before he needed bullpen help.

And then came strong bullpen work on both sides, but his team’s work has to be the highlight of the dreary afternoon for Price.

“Yeah, they pretty much left it right there,” said Price. “They gave us the chance for that Gennett home run to give us a shot to win. Scott held it together and the bullpen held it together and gave us a chance to come back.”

It wasn’t the opening day that Joey Votto envisioned as he tinkered with his swing this spring, hoping to be better than a .214 average at the end of May, as he was last season.

But Votto went 0 for 4: double play, pop to third base, fly to center and a strikeout on three pitches. The team’s marquee player was the poster boy for the team’s struggles on this day.

had some opportunities,” Price said. “When somebody says you’ll give up four runs in the opener, you’ll probably take that because you’d have a chance to win it.”

Before the game, Price said, “I love a quote I once heard from Dusty Baker. He said, ‘You think you know when you have a really good team. You know when you have a bad one.’ I think we have a really good team.”

If so, it didn’t show up Monday. But as they all say: It was just one game.

The Dragons will begin their minor-league baseball season this week with a roster that features 12 returning Dayton players and one of the Cincinnati Reds’ highest-rated prospects.

Among the returning play- ers is James Vasquez, the Dragons’ leader in home runs and RBIs last season. Also making his Dayton debut will be Taylor Trammell, the Reds’ top outfield prospect.

The Dragons open the Midwest League (Class A) season by hosting the Lake County Captains at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fifth Third Field. Minor- league rosters traditionally are not released until after the parent clubs play their openers.

Among the players return- ing to the Dragons from last season are catcher Tyler Stephenson, a first-round draft pick out of high school last June, right-handed power pitcher Tony Santillan and starting infielders Brantley Bell and Luis Gonzalez.

Six new Dragons hit .300 or better in rookie ball for the Billings (Mont.) Mustangs last season. Stephen- son will be backed by Cassidy Brown, the 2013 Ohio high school player of the year at Cuyahoga Falls. Third baseman John Sansone was the No. 1 hitter at Florida State last season, tradition- ally among the nation’s best collegiate programs.

DRAGONS ROSTER

Joining Santillan in the starting rotation are righthanders Ryan Olson and Andrew Jordan and lefthanders Scott Moss and Wennington Romero. Olson was 15-0 over the past two seasons at Cal Poly Pomona University.

Right-hander Ryan Hendrix is the top reliever. He was a reason why Texas A&M was ranked No. 1 much of last season.

Luis Bolivar has succeeded Dick Schofield as the Dragons manager. Bolivar is the first former Dragons player to become a coach. Derrin Ebert returns for his second season as the team’s pitching coach. Daryle Ward succeeds Bolivar as the hitting coach and Kevin Mahar will fill the newly created position of bench coach.

Schofield will be a bench coach at Class AA Pensacola. Corky Miller, a fixture at most Dragons home games the past two seasons, is a roving catcher instructor at all Reds’ minor-league levels.

This will be the 18th season of Dragons baseball. Tony Santillan, Scott Moss, Wennington Romero, Ryan Olson, Andrew Jordan. Jesse Adams, Lucas Benenati, Andy Cox, Aaron Fossas, Ryan Hendrix, Joel Kuhnel, Patrick Riehl, Jesse Stallings. Cassidy Brown, Tyler Stephenson. Brantley Bell, Luis Gonzalez, Avain Rachal, John Sansone, Hector Vargas, James Vasquez. Michael Beltre, T.J. Friedl, Jose Siri, Taylor Trammell.

OPENING GAME

Lake County at Dayton, 7 p.m. Thursday, WONE-AM (980), CW Ch. 26.1, Spectrum Ch. 13 and 1013, Direct TV and DISH Ch. 26

The Reds claimed Gennett off waivers from the Brewers on March 28. He came off the bench in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter and stayed in the game at second base.

“He did a really nice job today,” Price said. “He told me he really likes hitting here. We didn’t know that when we made the claim. He said he sees the ball well. That was an impres- sive at-bat. We’re tickled to have him. He’s going to help us.”

2. Record crowd:

The crowd of 43,804 was the largest regular-season crowd in the 15 seasons of Great American Ball Park. A victory would have given the Reds their first three-game winning streak on opening day since 1991, when they won their ninth straight opener.

“Of course, you want to win,” Hamilton said. “I wouldn’t say it was a disappointment because we went out there and battled our butts off.

“You’re going to loseballgames. You can’t win them all, but for us to keep battling like we did and come back in the ninth inning and keep it close, it’s big for us. As of right now, we still feel good about us as a team.”

Scott Feldman, a 13-year veteran making his 184th careerstart and first for the Reds, allowed three earned runs on seven hits in 42/3 innings. He struck out six.

Cesar Hernandez hit a leadoff home run in the first inning. He’s the first Phillies player to lead off the season with a home run since 1938. Freddy Galvis hit a solo home run in the second.

3. Early struggles:

“That game could have gotten away,” Price said, “and it didn’t in large part because Scott was able to handle the situation and limit the damage.”

The Reds loaded the bases with no outs in the third. Hamilton hit a sacrifice fly to score Zack Cozart. Then Jose Peraza grounded into a double play.

An inning later, the Reds loaded the bases with one out but failed to score. Fly outs by Tucker Barnhart and Cozart ended the inning.

“That’s baseball,” Hamilton said. “That’s how it happens sometimes. We just have to have confidence and keep building. I feel good with our lineup. I feel we have guys who will compete every single days.”

Cincinnati’s bullpen set a record by allowing a run in 23 straight games last season in April and May. The bullpen gave up one run Monday.

Blake Wood gave up an RBI triple to Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson in the sixth, though right fielder Scott Schebler dove for the ball and missed it, allowing it to roll to the wall. Galvis scored from second base.

Otherwise, the bullpen turned in a solid performance. Barrett Astin, making his big-league debut, got the final out of the fifth after Feldman left the game. Drew Storen, Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias ended the game with scoreless innings.

“Scott held it together,” Price said. “The bullpen held it together. It gave us a chance to come back in the game.”

5. Solid relief: