2B Brandon Phillips prepares to body slam former-Red Yonder Alonso in a 6th inning bench-clearing brawl against the Padres on Mar. 8. No, he's really just holding him up after Alonso slid into second.

It’s been a busy few weeks for me so I haven’t been able to post. I’ve got a few spring training notes though:

• The Reds started off their season with a 6-6 tie (!) last Saturday against the Indians and tacked up 26 more runs in the following 3 games. They were held to 3 hits and no runs yesterday in a loss to the Padres. They’ve dropped 2 games in a row now and I fear that they’ll never win again (just kidding).
• Sean Marshall and the Reds agreed to a 3-year contract worth $16.5 million.What this seems like to me is that this year will be Madson in the closer spot with Marshall ready to take over next season. I may be looking at this the wrong way but I wish they would’ve locked up Brandon Phillips first. He’s a great player and a fan favorite and has expressed his feelings about staying with the Reds. If it were me, I’d take care of my guys before thinking about the new players.
• This is a video of one of the greatest hits I’ve ever seen by Votto. Yes, it’s a single in a spring training game, but I couldn’t help but say ‘wow’ out loud when I saw it. Just watch and see.
• Closer Ryan Madson hasn’t pitched yet for the Reds, due to “elbow irritation.” When I hear elbow irritation, I think dry skin, which doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. Better safe than sorry though. UPDATE: Madson’s name has been removed from the injury report which is always a good sign.