The Cincinnati Reds made four roster moves this morning prior to the start of the series finale against the Colorado Rockies. Casey Legumina was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder pain. The team called up relievers Alan Busenitz and Silvino Bracho from Triple-A Louisville, and they optioned outfielder Stuart Fairchild to Louisville.
Casey Legumina pitched last night for the Reds in their 10th straight win of the year. It wasn’t a good night for him as he allowed three runs in an inning of work, and it would seem like he was injured due to the outing. He had recently just returned from the injured list.
Alan Busenitz is back with the club. He has pitched in four games for Cincinnati this season, giving up two runs in 4.0 innings while walking one and striking out three. The 32-year-old has spent most of his season in Triple-A where he has a 1.96 ERA this season in 23.0 innings. After being optioned back to the minors at the end of May he’s allowed two runs for Louisville in 8.0 innings (2.25 ERA) and held hitters to a .207 average.
Silvino Bracho is also back with the Reds. He, like Busenitz, has pitched in four games fort he Reds this season. He allowed three runs in 5.1 innings earlier this year with the club while walking five and striking out four. Much of his year has been spent with the Bats in Triple-A where he’s posted a 4.22 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched. He was not on the 40-man roster and took the spot that was open when the team designated Wil Myers for assignment yesterday.
Stuart Fairchild is now heading back to Triple-A. On the year he’s hitting .237/.331/.404 for Cincinnati in 64 games. He had been hitting left-handed pitchers well, posting a .262/.368/.400 line against them, but he had some struggles against righties with a .220/.305/.407 line against them. Perhaps some time with Louisville will get him to drink some of the water they all seem to have down there that’s turn everyone in the lineup into an absolute masher.
Good moves, hopefully those 2 bullpen additions are all we need today. The pen could use some rest.
I’m not a Fairchild fan, but I’m guessing this will be a short lived demotion. The other possibility is CES is coming up for the ATL series!
They would need to open another spot on the 40-man for CES. Bracho took Myers’ spot.
Suspect that will be Bracho himself being DFA’s once his current run is over. By my calculation they’ll need another starter no later than Tuesday, could be much sooner especially if Ashcraft is ready to pitch this weekend. At that point Bracho (at least) goes back to AAA, which re-opens that 40 man spot for CES if they are ready to make that move; it would require either going with a 12 man staff or ending the 3 catcher thing, which I think we’ve started to see movement towards (Stephenson hitting lower in the order, not DHing). I think the other 12 position players are set now that Myers is gone and Fairchild is at AAA; if Tyler is no longer going to DH when not catching there’s just no need for 3 catchers, though I hope there’s a way to keep both Maile and Casali around, possibly bringing them back in September.
I don’t think a either of these relievers are going to be stumbling block for CES to get his 40 man spot, if that is the plan.
Fairchild has grown on me. good defender, makes smart decisions on the base paths. has good power. I hope he is back soon
Absolutely agree, has contributed so much as a rookie. Bring back soon
Me too. I am a bit surprised they sent him down.
I agree wholeheartedly. He’s steady.
Agreed with all the above. Hope he’s not trade bait.
I wish I’d kept track of how many mediocre relievers have been sent to the injured list with “stiffness” or “pain” the day after they’ve struggled to get people out.
Meanwhile, the Reds will be playing without Fairchild for the next couple weeks so that Bell can have one more guy who can pitch an inning today. I hope that works out.
Probably better not to know how many relievers…
Fairchild being sent down says a lot about the quality of the position player roster today. He has been the best bench player on the team in terms of OPS+ and bWAR. Solid defensively and has excellent speed, too.
Newman and Senzel have an advantage because their splits against LHP are better, about 200 and 400 points better in terms of OPS. Leveraging those platoon splits has more value, given that the lineup is becoming more set.
If Fairchild is recalled in 19 days or less, his option will void, something that could be helpful next year.
Fairchild has established his MLB floor as prototypical 4th OF but on a team which values platoon extremes over those skills.
His 28 day (4 week) OPS as of this morning was .836 in 72 PAs with virtually identical handedness splits. Couple that with his .800+ OPS in ~100 PAs in 2022 and there is a suggestion he could be even more than a 4th OF.
Fairchild has been bounced before and always landed on his feet. Add resilience to his skill set. I expect the same again be that with the Reds rather than elsewhere.
Agree 100%… as the Reds continue to improve, someone like Fairchild features as a 4th or 5th OF for depth. I’m not sure he’s part of a winning regular OF, but a vital type of bench talent. Reds are lucky to be bountiful at this time.
Probably a short term move to get more relievers for the Atlanta series. We will need them. I feel for Fairchild though.
“Perhaps some time with Louisville will get him to drink some of the water they all seem to have down there that’s turn everyone in the lineup into an absolute masher.”
Yeah. They got good water down there. Barrero needs to start drinking a lot more of it too.
It’s not the water. They are taught In Kentucky how to use bourbon instead of water for relaxation of the anxiety in pitching. Shhh! It’s a secret. Anyway, Barrero has to stop the Cuban rum and get just a taste for bourbon.
Well, I’ve got the taste for Bourbon, but I’m sad to say that it doesn’t make me hit any better.
I join the crowd in liking Fairchild, and thinking this is a very short term move – short enough to void the option. Wild speculation, but hope they know that starting help is returning or will be acquired, and just need extra arms to play to win the next few series
Always dangerous to look to far ahead, but it’s a tough stretch of opponents, Nats excepted, into the break, and even with the off day, and recent workloads, they need bullpen help now. Fairchild still has good value and if they do anything to fix the staff, and contend into August or beyond, he will be needed.
Yes, but the big news is that MYERS IS GONE! I didn’t think they’d pull that trigger, but with the team playing so well why take the chance of a monkey wrench being thrown into the works? Or a second monkey wrench. Votto goes 0-fer his second game, after a storybook first game back. However, the team can use his left-handed bat, his experience, and his presence in the clubhouse. Myers, on the other hand, ah, no. The Padres and their fans couldn’t wait for that guy’s contract to expire. San Diego sports talk radio berated the guy daily. (Of course, they’ve got a lot to complain about. What a perfect example of money not buying a winning team and trading youth for established stars doesn’t work!)
Krall within the past 24 hours “There’s been a lot of guys from Triple-A to the big league players to guys that started in the big leagues. Seeing these guys take steps forward, they just earned the playing time. They’ve earned everyday roles. They’ve earned those bench roles.”
I guess that didn’t apply to Fairchild? Odd. Would have sent Senzel down instead.
It applies in that they ate the Myers money for a 40 man slot rather than expose Fairchild, Benson, Hopkins (or Saini) to waivers. I suspect that by or at the deadline, Fairchild and CES will be on the MLB roster for the balance of the year (unless one of them is in a trade for a starting pitcher). I don’t like to name names of people I think would be gone; but, just look at the current 26 man roster and 2 RH hitters with extreme platoon splits pop to mind; and, both are redundant defensively.
Exactly, Fairchild > Senzel and Senzels IF flexibility is no longer needed with the promotion of the young guys. Fairchild > Newman who is no longer needed as a backup SS, and Fairchild > Casali/Maile, may the 3 headed catcher die a quick and sudden death very soon. Sending Fairchild down was a bad move.
@Tom. I suspect efforts to trade one or both of the guys you named are underway; and, they did not want to further devalue them by optioning them (per Fangraphs both have an available option and lack the service time to decline it).
It will be very interesting to see if they cook up some sort of injury between now and Friday to get Fairchild back up for Atlanta since these moves today were forced by a bullpen crisis.
I think the main reasons why they kept Senzel instead are 1) Senzel has more positions he can play (IF and OF), while Fairchild doesn’t. Also, 2) Senzel was a top pick and they still have to keep trying and trying until they get something out of him.
Senzel kills lefties. For that reason alone he’s earned a spot, as he’s valuable as a pinch-hitter. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never been a “forever Senzeler.” But he’s been part of the magic that is the 2023 Reds thus far. (Really he’s only had 6-straight stellar games in April and 6-straight solid games in May, and he’s milking them for all they’re worth.)
This is a wasted move in my eyes, unless I am missing something. Why do we need two relievers up? Why not just Legumina down and Busenitz up? First, it is an off day tomorrow. Second, relievers that did not pitch last night include Farmer, Gibaut, and Sims. Plus, Duarte and Cruz should be available. Why waste one of Fairchild’s options? In my opinion, Fairchild has grown into a very dependable 4th outfielder.
It could be the option was already burned when he was “technically” optioned ahead of opening day then brought back for opening day. The unknown to us is whether the time he was officially on option was long enough to count as using the option.
Regardless he can be recalled up at least 3 times and maybe 4 over the rest of the season.
Thanks Jim. That leaves quite a few options left. I assumed he didn’t have many left, if any. Must be calling up the extra reliever for just in case things really go bad for Abbott or extra innings happen.
Why not pitch a middle reliever 25 pitches instead of 10 or 12? Shouldn’t treat them all like one-inning closers. Who’s our “long reliever”? All great questions if I must say so myself 🙂
I wish the Reds would use an “&” when referring to these two.
“Busenitz & Bracho” sounds like the name of a law firm.
Or a steak sauce.
Right, Harry. A couple of ambulance chasers you’d see on billboards all over town. Lol
A sucker personal injury law firm maybe. “Call Busenitz & Bracho if you’ve been in a knock-o”
Will the Reds be buyers at the trade deadline? I’d say we’ll find out a lot more about the ownership if they at least try to upgrade. Votto’s return is huge from a veteran presence standpoint, but another with some pennant-race experience would be nice.