The Cincinnati Reds have made a roster move for today’s doubleheader in Pittsburgh, calling up right-handed reliever Daniel Duarte as the 27th player on the roster that’s allowed during doubleheaders. The team has also sent right-handed starting pitcher Ben Lively to Triple-A Louisville where he will begin a rehab assignment.
Duarte has been up and down a few times this season between the big leagues and Triple-A. He’s pitched in 19 games for the Reds this year. He’s allowed eight earned runs in 17.2 innings. That’s a 4.08 ERA. Duarte has given up three home runs among his 15 hits allowed, he’s walked 10 batters, and he’s picked up 15 strikeouts.
In Triple-A, as you would expect, he’s pitched a bit better. He’s posted a 3.26 ERA in his 28 games for Louisville this season. He hasn’t allowed a home run in the minor leagues this season in his 30.1 innings while giving up 22 hits, walking 15 batters, and striking out 34.
Ben Lively will be joining Louisville in Minnesota as the Bats wrap up a series against the St. Paul Saints. He’s currently on the injured list with a right pectoral strain – the second time for that injury this year. He also missed time in late June through the first week of July with the same injury before returning to the roster.
In his last outing, Lively was offered as a sacrifice to the baseball Gods by David Bell as he remained in the game long enough to give up 13 earned runs on 13 hits and two walks in 4.0 innings that also included him giving up four home runs to the Chicago Cubs. He was placed on the injured list the following day (August 2nd).
With only a short amount of time since he last pitched, and being eligible to return on August 17th, Lively’s stint with the Bats in Triple-A may be a short one. Annie Sabo of Bally Sports Ohio reported that he’s expected to throw 85 pitches in his rehab start. That would suggest if things go well and he remains healthy that it’s likely he’ll be back when he’s eligible to return because he doesn’t need to have his pitch count built up.
“In his last outing, Lively was offered as a sacrifice to the baseball Gods by David Bell as he remained in the game long enough to give up 13 earned runs on 13 hits and two walks in 4.0 innings that also included him giving up four home runs to the Chicago Cubs. He was placed on the injured list the following day (August 2nd).”
Ugh. A very good reason to have a legit long man in the pen. Maybe Kennedy could have prevented this – hope Ben can regain his form. Reds really had no choice but to leave him out there but it certainly is borderline malpractice.
Still wondering why the Reds gave up on Jeff Hoffman, who seemed well suited to the long man ‘ spot starter role.
Was structuring the BP to reflect Bell’s one-and-done approach a conscious decision?
Thinking back to when Iglesias and Bradley were shipped out.
Bell’s “I don’t need a ‘closer’ mentality at the time probably played a big role in that.
I mean this as a neutral comment but David Bell really likes to manage. One-inning relievers provide the greatest opportunity and you have to wonder if it taxes the bullpen unnecessarily. It’s good that Kennedy is on the roster IMO.
For me, chalk it up to hardheadedness. The reduction of allowed pitchers on the pending active roster from 14 to 13 was known well in advance. The teams had 2 years or more to adjust. The Reds chose to keep following the same plan and support it with the Louisville option/IL/recall shuffle. Now with the option recall minimum and IL stay for pitchers increased to 15 days they are painted into an even tighter corner.
Krall had the final say on roster composition; so, he is no more in the clear than his manager and pitching coach.
Jim, I’m not so sure. Does David Bell get the personnel he wants or is it forced on him?
I’ve read Kyle Boddy on Twitter (X) and he has made comments that unlike his predecessor Dick Williams, Krall has many bosses. Refers to it as a bureaucracy…. If you don’t follow Boddy he is a really good read, I recommend him highly.
@Pete>> I thought I followed Boddy but anymore I only see him on retweets (or whatever Elon is calling them today) but that’s a story for another place and time 😉
For me, it is difficult to think that the VPoBO or PoBO, whichever Krall is officially called, doesn’t have final say over the manager and pitching coach on roster issues.
Maybe BigBob or SonPhil give Krall some direct order about a player or roster composition or their head bean counter emails Krall’s bean counter and tells him to tell Krall payroll has to be reduced ASAP or that the book value of their player inventory needs adjustment. But I can’t see any situation where the manager or pitching coach have authority over Krall.
Lineup for Game#1 posted. Mitch Keller is the starter for Pirates:
Friedl – cf
McLain – 2b
De La Cruz – ss
Steer – 3b
Votto – 1b
CES – dh
Stephenson – c
Benson – rf
Fairchild – lf
Glad to see CES can get back in the lineup.
+500 on CES
Move Votto down in the line up and to DH. CES may not be a gold glover but he’s better than Votto defensively
The lineup is about Bell and handedness. He doesn’t have the bodies for full platoon mode; so, he has 2 lefties, 2 righties, and a switch hitter in the top 5 and Benson bumped up to 8 to avoid having 3 consecutive from the “weak” side either way as the line rolls through.
The greatest problem with how David Bell manages his pitching staff is headstrong refusal to solely manage according to a spreadsheet rather than what is happening on the field in front of him. Once his starter reaches the dreaded “third time through the order” they better be perfect, because as soon as a runner gets Bell is going to pull that pitcher, no matter how he has performed to that point. By my count he has pulled a starter (in a tie or with the lead) with less than 80 pitches thrown 11 times this season. That is what over taxes the bullpen, but it seem he just cannot resist.
People reply to this that Bell is not the only manager who does this. This is true, but that does not make it right and, frankly, I’m not concerned with what other teams do. I am concerned about what the manager of my favorite teams does, however.
Sorry, strike the word solely
I think that the plethora of 0.1-1.0 inning relievers taxes the bullpen more than does pulling the starter. It takes more than 8 pitches to warm up for an appearance, whereas starting one’s second inning only takes 8 pitches to loosen up. If BP pitchers go 2 innings each, it uses half the number of BP pitchers as does the current system.