Mike Lincoln is not a starting pitcher. Did you hear (er..read) me?

The closest Lincoln should come to starting a game is as a long reliever. He hasn’t started a game since 2000.

He came up to the big leagues in 1999 with the Minnesota Twins. He started 15 games in ‘99, had a 3-10 record with a 6.84 ERA.

The next year he started four games and was 0-3 with a 10.89 ERA. Those numbers are troubling, baseball fans. To send a man on the hill thinking you have to score 11 runs to win is not in anybody’s playbook.

A better question would be, “what did Mike Lincoln do in 2009 to warrant another visit to spring training?”

He appeared in 19 games with the Reds last season, and in only six of them did he not surrender a hit. He was 1-1 with an 8.22 ERA and an ERA+ of 52.

Does that mean he is the worst pitcher in the league? I didn’t say that, but feel free to chime in if you wish.

The Reds have decent potential in the five hole with Mike Leake, Matt Maloney and even the rookie-to-be Aroldis Chapman. I would even like to say Justin Lehr get a crack at it.

He is scheduled to pitch today (Wednesday) and again on Monday. What the hell? The man is not a starting pitcher of MLB caliber.

This all leads me to the crux of the fifth starter. Since we don’t have a set, capable pitcher that we can call No. 5, let us take a good look at Aroldis Chapman. He isn’t a 15-year old Joe Nuxhall.

He is a grown man that can throw a baseball accurately at 100mph. Allow me to say that once more with emphasis. 100 mph .

Some think that no matter how good he is in camp, he needs to go down on the farm and get seasoned. Again, he is a grown man not a New York Strip.

I say if he is better than the other candidates, give him the doggone ball. Sink or swim. If he sinks too badly we can send him down to Louisville.

Anyway, do what you will with Chapman, but please, in the name of everything you hold dear, forget about Mike Lincoln. Not just as a starter, period.

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The scouting report says that Yonder Alonso can only play first base. But with Joey Votto there, Alonso is willing to try to prove the scouts wrong.

“I’ll do whatever I can to get on the field,” he said. “Give Joey a day off. Give Scottie (Rolen) a day off. Play left a day.”

Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said Alonso would get a look at third base and left field.

A lot fans believe the logical move is shifting Votto, who is more athletic, to left.

“I don’t see moving Joey,” Jocketty said.

“I understand,” Alonso said. “Joey’s probably the best player on this team. But it’s a long season. He’s got my support.”

Choices like this are not new.

“I remember coming up as a kid, (the Giants) had Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda,” Dusty Baker said.

Reds prospect Mike Leake threw two crisp innings in Cincinnati's 6-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. Leake, the eighth overall pick in last year's draft, allowed one hit, walked one and struck out one. "It was kind of fun facing some major leaguers," he said, "facing some people I've been watching on TV.

Justin Upton hit a two-run homer, and the Arizona Diamondbacks roughed up right-hander Aaron Harang in his first spring training start on Tuesday, pulling away to a 10-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Upton got a six-year, $51.25 million deal — the second-largest in franchise history — last week.

Back in January, the Cincinnati Reds surprised baseball by signing 22-year-old Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman to a six-year, $30.25 million deal. It was surprising because everyone figured Chapman would be in the middle of a bidding war between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

That was not the case and the Reds were aggressive in landing the left-handed phenom. Yesterday, the Reds unveiled their phenom to the entire world.

Chapman made his debut in a Reds’ uniform yesterday against the Kansas City Royals and was throwing darts. Chapman threw two scoreless innings and struck out three Royal hitters. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his outing was that he hit 100 mph on the radar gun three times.

Very Rob Dibble-like.

Chapman did give up a hit and a walk in those two innings, but overall, his performance was very impressive. It will be very interesting to see what the Reds do with Chapman as the season approaches.

Do they put him on the Opening Day roster and ease him in as a reliever or do they send him down to the minors and groom him as a starter? I say they they put him on the Opening Day roster and use him as a reliever.

By putting Chapman on the Opening Day roster, the Reds will accomplish a couple of things. First, by having Chapman in the bullpen, they can shorten the game to six or seven inning game.

Could you imagine being a team down 5-3 to the Reds in the seventh and then have to face Chapman for two and then Francisco Cordero in the ninth? That would be a nightmare.

Second, Chapman will have the opportunity to face major league batters without the pressure of closing. Pitching in the middle innings of relief is the best way to get acclimated to major league hitters and the overall speed and feel of the game.

The Toronto Blue Jays did this with Roy Halladay and the Minnesota Twins did this with Johan Santana. I think those two turned out just fine.

And one last note on Chapman and this game. Shame on the MLB Network for not airing this game yesterday. Chapman is the most hyped pitcher this spring next to the Washington Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg. Everyone wants to see what this kid has got.

The MLB Network should have aired his game, especially since everyone knew he was going to pitch on Monday. Bad job by them.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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While the Reds have made plenty of bad trades over the years, historically they haven’t gotten torched for signing the wrong free agents. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t five worthy candidates. Most of these players were around in the 2000s—which is also the time frame of nine straight losing seasons.

The following players have sucked money out of the Reds wallets like a vacuum while giving the team next to nothing on the field. High robbery indeed.

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Scouts behind home plate trained their radar guns on Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman as the left-hander prepared to throw. When the ball smacked the catcher's mitt, they'd glance back at the gun and find an eye-popping number. The left-hander hit 100 mph at least three times during his spring training debut Monday, throwing two scoreless innings during the Cincinnati Reds' 14-5 victory…

By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

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This is not a Top 10 list of home run hitters in Cincinnati history, nor is it a list of the RBI leaders.

I chose five categories to sort through to obtain the best power hitters in Reds history.

The categories used are based on 162 game season averages. To qualify, a player had to be with the Reds for a minimum of five years.

I selected HR, RBI, total bases, slugging pct., and OPS. Only numbers accrued while with the Reds are used.

Let’s take a look at them now. Go ahead, press the button.

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The Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers game Sunday has been rained out. The teams will play a "B" game Monday at 9:30 a.m. at the Reds' spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz. Doug Davis was set to start for the Brewers Sunday. Instead, he is slated to throw two simulated innings in the batting cages.