Micah Owings

Rookie Mike Leake has been relegated to the bullpen effective immediately.

Leake came straight to the Reds from Arizona State University without stepping foot in a minor league dugout. He has been a pleasant surprise all year to a rotation that looks nothing like it did to start the season.

Much as been chronicled about innings pitched for the young right-hander. Obviously, baseball seasons at the college level are not nearly as long as in MLB.

Though we are still a few weeks away from Opening Day, most pitchers have made three to four Spring Training starts at this point. It’s still a small sample size (the league leader in IP has just 14.2), but that hasn’t stopped some from being very impressive. With competitions heating up for rotation spots, let’s take a look at five pitchers helping their cause early on:

Homer Bailey, Cincinnati Reds: 10.0 IP, 0.90 ERA, 10 H, 1 BB, 10 K