The Cincinnati Reds just announced that they have picked up right-handed pitcher Ashton Goudeau off of waivers from the Colorado Rockies. To create room on the 40-man roster the team designated left-handed pitcher Phillip Diehl for assignment.
Ashton Goudeau is a 28-year-old right handed pitched who has both started and relieved in his minor league career – most recently making 16 starts in Double-A with the Rockies organization back in 2019. During the 2020 season he saw limited action with the Rockies at the big league level, pitching in four games. Things didn’t go well in those four games as he allowed 15 hits and seven earned runs in 8.1 innings with just two strikeouts.
Back in that 2019 minor league season he posted a 2.07 ERA with Double-A Hartford, throwing 78.1 innings with four home runs allowed, just 12 walks, and he struck out 91 batters.
Ashton Goudeau works with a fastball, change up, and a curveball. His fastball averaged 93.3 MPH in 2020. The change up comes in in the mid-80’s and his curveball is a slower breaking ball in the mid-70’s.
While much is made about “Spincinnati”, this pick up doesn’t fit that narrative. Goudeau is actually a low-spin guy, with a fastball that averaged just 2155 RPM last year (league average is about 2250), while his breaking ball was at 2329. Of course, there’s a lot more to pitching than just spinning the baseball. Location matters. Deception matters. And it’s also possible that the organization sees something that they can work with to improve an area of weakness.
As for Phillip Diehl – he’ll be replaced by a former teammate with the Rockies. The Cincinnati native, Diehl was picked up on waivers just over two weeks ago from Colorado. His stay on the 40-man roster was short lived. The lefty had been playing with the Reds alternate site team. Now it’s up in the air as to whether he will even remain in the organization. We’ll find out soon enough if he clears waivers or if a team claims him.
I wonder how long the Reds have been…waiting for Goudeau…something might happen…but probably never will.
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I would like to know REAL money how much REDS spin on these little maneuvers.
Hopefully there look at FA Shane Greene. Bullpen needs help. He may or may not be a answer. Was good last year.