Manager Dusty Baker is hoping Gonzalez can compete the way he did before the injury, especially defensively, a weak spot on the team.
"Before he was hurt, Alex was one of baseball's best defensive shortstops," Baker said.
Gonzalez had one of his best offensive seasons in 2007, although he played only 110 games because he took off three times to help attend to an ill infant son.
He hit .272 with 16 homers and 55 RBIs, second only to 2004, when he hit 23 homers and drove in 75 runs, although he batted only .232 that season.
WHERE, WHEN: Ed Smith Stadium, Sarasota, Fla. First exhibition game is Feb. 26 against Minnesota.
TOP CANDIDATE TO SURPRISE: SS Alex Gonzalez missed all of last season after fracturing his knee early in spring training. The club used stopgaps all of last season, but team physician Tim Kremchek recently gave Gonzalez a clean bill of health and pronounced him 100 percent ready for spring training. Manager Dusty Baker said Gonzalez is "one of the finest shortstops in the game, and we expect him to return and have a great season."
TOP CANDIDATE TO DISAPPOINT: 3B Edwin Encarnacion has been a player the Reds expected to blossom, ever since they traded for him with the Rangers in 2001. The highly talented 26-year-old has never become the star he was expected to become, although every year the manager du jour has predicted big things for him. Encarnacion remains an enigma, showing flashes of brilliance that usually quickly flame out. He hit only .251 last year and made 23 errors, and he shows no signs of finding the consistency he needs.
AUTHORITY FIGURES: Manager Dusty Baker returns after going 74-88 in his first season, guiding the Reds to a fifth-place finish. Baker, with a career mark of 1,236-1,129, said last season was a process of learning his personnel, and he feels he can now better utilize the players' various abilities. Despite talk there might be some changes in the coaching staff, every coach was retained, including pitching coach Dick Pole, a long-time Baker associate, and hitting coach Brook Jacoby.