The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Silvino Bracho from Triple-A Louisville and recalled fellow righty Alan Busenitz. Cincinnati optioned outfielder Stuart Fairchild to Louisville and placed righty Casey Legumina on the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder issue in a pair of corresponding 26-man roster moves. The Reds already had a vacant spot on the 40-man roster for Bracho after designating Wil Myers for assignment yesterday.
Bracho returns to the Reds for a second time in 2023, having already appeared in four games earlier this season. He pitched 5 1/3 innings in that time, yielding three runs on a pair of hits and five walks with four strikeouts. The 30-year-old righty (31 next month) has had a better run in Louisville, posting a 4.22 ERA with a 23.9% strikeout rate and much-improved 9.1% walk rate in 21 1/3 frames. Bracho has appeared in parts of seven big league seasons, totaling 99 1/3 innings of relief work with a 4.89 ERA and strikeout/walk rates that match his 2023 rates in Triple-A.
The 32-year-old Busenitz resurfaced in the Majors as a member of the Reds this year — his first big league work since a 2017-18 run with the Twins. He’s allowed a pair of runs on seven hits and a walk with three punchouts through four frames thus far in the big leagues. He owns a sharp 1.96 ERA in 23 Triple-A frames, though that mark is accompanied by a slightly below-average 21% strikeout rate and a bloated 12% walk rate.
After his run with the Twins, Busenitz spent the 2019-22 seasons pitching with the Rakuten Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he worked to a 2.83 ERA and picked up 18 saves through 155 2/3 innings of bullpen work. He returned to North American ball this past offseason when he signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati. Overall, in addition to that strong run in NPB, Busenitz has a 4.57 ERA in 61 big league innings and a 2.80 ERA in 119 Triple-A frames.
Legumina, 26, was acquired from the Twins in the trade that sent Kyle Farmer to Minnesota back in November. He’s pitched to a 4.22 ERA with an outstanding 13-to-1 K/BB ratio in 10 2/3 innings with Louisville but been rocked for a 6.17 ERA with an 11-to-8 K/BB mark in 11 2/3 innings at the MLB level. He’s now missed time this season due to ankle and shoulder problems. Cincinnati did provide a formal diagnosis on Legumina’s current shoulder injury, describing the issue only as “right shoulder pain.”
The 27-year-old Fairchild has batted .237/.331/.404 in 184 plate appearances while logging time in all three outfield spots this season. The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans tweets that the move to option Fairchild will give the Reds some short-term bullpen help before a reliever is likely sent out this weekend to accommodate righty Graham Ashcraft’s return from the injured list.
So no CES this week?
Trade him and a couple mid tier guys playing well this year for Lynch and Barlow. Hines and Hubbart could possibly get it done.
As a Royals fan, we aren’t going to get close to that return for Barlow. And Lynch has virtually 0 value right now.
CES will not be traded..
Louder for the folks in the back.
Chapman going back to Cincinnati in that deal as well? because right now thats a steep over pay for the Reds
Is it ? Lynch would be there #1 pitcher tmrw and be under control for 3 more seasons. Get a season and 1/2 of Barlow.
It’s a buyers market too. So prob not enough
He will come up after a trade
It’s good to see the Reds with lots of fans in the stands. It’s an MLB Renaissance.
To be realistic, the Reds face a MUCH more difficult second-half schedule. The fans should continue to be hopeful but also very prepared for potentially different game outcomes. The Reds still carry a negative run differential (which could be viewed as a serious red flag). They will face much better pitching.
How about if you were realistic?
You have to do splits –
for example …
1) early this season
2) May then
#) June AFTER De La Cruz came up (how often does a team bring up a minor leaguer and install him as their clean-up hitter?)
That way, you would get a whole lot more
REALISTIC VIEW f this team.
Orioles win by scoring a bunch of runs while having poor pitching. They do that in AL East. Surely reds can stay afloat in nl central
Reds def need the bullpen help, but for a matchup crazy manager like Bell this leaves Senzel as the only RH OF on the roster. Guessing they like Steer in LF enough to roll with him vs LHP
They need COMPETENT bullpen help, not these type guys, especially as the only guys they can somewhat count on are showing signs of wear already. Starting pitching is obvious but with injuries rentals will do there that won’t cost as much.
We have seen it on the other end, what smart GMs gave up to get rental pieces from this organization and others. It remains to be seen whether the Reds front office can pull off the same.
Well duh
Obviously the reds felt Bracho was a better option still than anyone who’s come across the waiver wire yet
I’m in the “only trade for bullpen help if it also helps for 2024” camp
Agreed DHud. I’m not interested in rental pieces unless they are truly inexpensive (prospect wise).
The BP has been one of the strengths of this team and they have 2 off days in the next 8 days.
You have seen it done by other organizations for the price of a song, for guys here even. That is the point.
If I’m giving up something of substance, it would be for a starter with at least a couple years of control. Nothing in the pipeline above AA or they would have been here already with all the injuries.
It will be interesting to see in the next couple of months if management puts up or shuts up. Don’t do these hard fighting kids an injustice by sitting on your hands again like last offseason.
Hinds is a distinct possibility – he’s in AA and might indeed have a bright future.
Bracho won’t be there long enough to unpack. He was there in case they needed to burn an arm today.
As of right now, the Reds are carrying 9 relievers and 3 catchers. Once Ashcraft is activated and gets them back to 5 SP, they’d only have space for 9 IF/OF. That’s certainly not the plan.
Bracho will be back in Louisville by Monday.
Busenitz should go with him.
The pipeline between the Reds and the Twins in the last couple years is really something. A lot of attention has gone to the high-profile guys—Gray and Mahle making up 40% of the Twins’ season-opening rotation, Steer and Encarnacion-Strand taking the next step in the Cincinnati system this year. But also: so many Twins cast-offs on the Reds pitching staff! Busenitz, Law, Gibaut, Legumina all “remember a guy” names that have appeared in MLBTR articles within the last day. And Kyle Farmer and Donovan Solano are playing almost every day for Minnesota.
No bigger significance to this; it’s just funny to see so many players switch between these two uniforms through an aggregation of unrelated trades and signings. Glad to see the Reds playing well even if the Twins aren’t.
FWIW, there was a wonderful article by Passan, about a year back, castigating the Reds for, IIRC, “tanking at its worst”.
You must need a mighty thick skin to be that wrong and still show up every day.
Passan is a large market media type that doesn’t understand how most of baseball has to operate.
So no surprise there.
Passan just plays whatever the flavor of the week is and drags it out. Like last year during the ASB on how Soto would make half a billion or the year before in the postseason on how the Braves needed to change their name because Cleveland did.
I know the Reds may not be looking for rental pieces and the Padres aren’t looking to sell yet, but would they entertain CES for Hader, Snell, and a lower level arm?
I doubt the Reds would give up CES or any of their high value prospects for rental players. But if the Padres, Mets or any other luxury tax team really do end up selling and want to dump salaries, the Reds should be willing to take on payroll in return for lottery ticket types.
Less about a payroll dump—more about adding quality, controllable bats to a team (Pobres) that needs just that.
No!
CES is not going anywhere!
Ever heard of the Frank Robinson trade?
never thought i would be so interested in the reds. they’re now the first box score i check in the morning. very happy for that fan base
Thank you. It has been a very long slog.
11
Have to see big bob spend, Maybe one buck and quarter lol. Reds all talk on getting pitching at the trade deadline. Just cheap arms for help.
The Reds currently have 9 relievers on their active roster. Diaz & Duarte were signed as international prospects. Sims came to Reds in the Duvall trade. The rest of the Reds relief corp (Bracho, Busenitz, Cruz, Farmer, Gibaut, Young) came to the Reds as MiLB signings with an invite, this year or last. BTW, Reds relievers have the most WAR in the ML. So who questions Krall’s moves?
Krall is an absolute bum ! Lol. He’s been there through 6 rebuilds- bout time he got one to come together !
They’d own the central if they would have made extremely sensible moves like not trading Josiah Grey for puig and resigning Anthony descafanie, who would have actually resigned in cincy at a decent (one of the few ever since I’ve been a reds fan). Maybe 4 years/50 mil.
Instead they rolled into the season w a 3 man rotation. While more than 1/2 their payroll goes to votto and moose. Krall is a noob.
Wow. So many things to unpack and mental pretzels to untie I will just let that go and wish you a good day.
Who of those in the bullpen do you trust with the game on the line outside of Diaz and possibly Farmer? Who hasnt shown signs of wear slready due to overuse?
Season is six months not three. It’s been great so far but there’s a long way to go. I would rather they be prepared to finish the job than a hope and a prayer.
I’d rather win the war than hang my hat on one stat named after it.
Any interest in Josh Bell ?
I would take CES back on the Twins..
How about Lodolo and CES. For Mahle , SWR, Larnach and the e emanuel Rodriguez?