Yesterday the Cincinnati Reds kicked off spring training, officially. Pitchers and catchers reported and took their physicals. Later today they will have the first workout. As the resident minor league guru I figured it would be a good time to take some time to mention a few pitchers to keep an eye on that may not be ones you know a ton about. Bryan Price seemed to lay out who would be competing for spots in the rotation. What we don’t know is who all is truly in competition for the open spots in the bullpen. Four guys jump out to me that are a little bit “off of the radar” who could take a spot with a strong showing this spring.
If you follow along with the Reds farm system you probably know who Jimmy Herget is. For those who are not as crazy as those of us who do, Herget was a 6th round pick in 2015 and has dominated his way up through Louisville ever since. He’s thrown 148.0 innings with a 2.49 ERA and 181 strikeouts to go with 64 saves as he’s worked his way up the organization. He was the 19th rated Reds prospect following the 2017 season. With strong numbers, good polish, upper level experience and quality stuff he’s the kind of guy who with a good five weeks could earn a spot. His fastball can get up to 97, though he tends to work a little lower than that, and he shows off a good breaking ball (full scouting report here).
The Reds #24 prospect after the 2017 season is the next guy that I want to highlight. Jesus Reyes, who I talked about on the Redleg Nation Radio podcast this past week (if you haven’t listened, what are you waiting for?), spent last year in Daytona and Pensacola. Between the two stops he had a 3.60 ERA in 137.1 innings, working as a starter. But, as I mentioned on the podcast, he’s viewed almost by everyone as a future reliever. He’s an elite ground ball rate pitcher with a big time fastball (full scouting report here). With a good spring he’s a guy that could steal that final spot despite having only 10 starts in Double-A.
Kyle Crockett, who may be Chad Dotson’s favorite left handed reliever in baseball for no reason at all related to him pitching at the University of Virginia, could be vying for a spot in the bullpen. The left hander has a 3.44 career ERA in the Major Leagues over 65.1 innings. His ERA, however, has gone from 1.80 to 4.08 to 5.06 to 10.80 in his four seasons in the Majors – all while throwing fewer games than he threw in the previous season. In 2017 for Columbus (Triple-A) he posted a 3.38 ERA in 48.0 innings with 11 walks and 49 strikeouts. While right handers found some success against him, lefties managed just a .524 OPS against him during the season (including some limited Major League time). As a lefty reliever, he’ll get a long look if he performs well in the spring.
The last guy is probably a longshot, but Tanner Rainey has the best stuff among anyone in the group (full scouting report here). The right hander split his year between Advanced-A and Double-A, posting a 3.19 ERA in 62.0 innings. He struck out 104 batters, but also walked 33 – including 11 in 17.0 innings with Pensacola. Rainey isn’t on the 40-man roster, which works against him – but if he comes out in March and is consistently in the strikezone, with his stuff that includes a fastball that reaches triple digits, it could be difficult to send him to the minors.
After seeing him pitch during last year’s spring training, I am looking forward to seeing Jimmy H get a shot to make the Majors.
MR: Shackleford
MR: Crocket
MR: Hughes
MR: Hernandez
LHSU: Peralta
RHSU: Lorenzen
CL: Iglesias
Then the first 4 games until the 5th starter is needed I think we’ll carry an 8th, and potentially a 9th RP if we go with a short bench. Vying for that short term spot I think is a competition between Ariel Hernandez, Austin Brice, Keury Mella, Jesus Reyes, and Zack Weiss (all guys on the 40 man roster). If Reyes is there I could see him start the year in the MLB bullpen, and then go down to the Pensacola rotation in AA (where he finished last year).
I’ll keep my eye on these pitchers in the stats… great write up.