While Josh Hamilton has justifiably gotten a lot of attention with his great spring, you don’t hear too much about the Reds other Rule 5 pickup, Jared Burton.  The right handed pitcher was drafted by the Athletics in the eighth round of 2002 but he missed chunks of 2003 and 2004 because of shoulder problems.  He made his minor league debut in 2004 in the Arizona League and he was pretty mediocre in five starts there.  He also got some time at Single A in 2004 but he really found his stride at High A in 2005 as a reliever.   He struck out 67 and walked only 20 in 55 1/3 innings and he posted a solid 2.60 ERA as the team’s closer.  He also won closer of the year in the California League.    Then he came back down to earth last year at Double A but was decent in the Arizona Fall League..

He was recently profiled over at Baseball America.  He still might not make the team but you can’t argue with his solid spring.  He’s given up a few runs (four in 7 1/3 innings) but he’s struck out nine.  He could be a keeper and we’ll have to put him on the 25 man roster if we’re going to keep him.

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