TODAYS GAME

Brewers at Reds, 7:10, FS Ohio, 700, 1410 Staff Writer

Curt Casali thinks the CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati Reds may be on to something with their decisions to draft Southeastern Conference players

— Tennessee’s Nick Senzel and Florida’s Jonathan India in the first

— round two of the last three years. He also admits he may be biased because he played at Vanderbilt.

“I’m very partial to the players in the league,” Casali said. “I think it’s as competitive a league as any in the country. That being said, I haven’t played in the other leagues. I’m a huge Vanderbilt Commodore fan. Anytime I see a fellow SEC guy doing well in the big leagues, it definitely excites me.”

Casali can count himself among those players. Since the Reds acquired Casali from the Tampa Bay Rays on May 31 in exchange for cash considerations, he’s hit .407 (11-for-27) in 11 games. He has made six starts, most recently Wednesday when he went 2-for-4 in a 6-5 victory against the Atlanta Braves.

“Curt has come in and handled the staff well,” interim manager Jim Riggleman said Thursday before the start of a four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park. “He’s given us good at-bats, but the more important part is he’s been really solid behind the plate.”

Handling pitchers is the most important part of Casali’s job. He had to learn fast because he didn’t have the history with the staff that