Reds manager Terry Francona provided members of the media, including Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, updates on the club’s pitching plans to start the season. Left-hander Andrew Abbott will start the season on the injured list. That will allow right-hander Carson Spiers to have a rotation spot to start the year. Meanwhile, righty Graham Ashcraft will head to the bullpen. Fellow righty Lyon Richardson has been optioned to Triple-A, per a club announcement from earlier today.
Sheldon emphasizes that Abbott hasn’t experienced a setback, just that the Reds have been moving him along gradually. At the start of camp, about a month ago, Abbott relayed that he was a bit behind schedule, taking things slowly after he finished 2024 on the injured list due to a shoulder strain. He thought he still had a chance to be ready by Opening Day but Francona said the club wouldn’t rush him to just meet that specific target.
“I don’t even think about that just because I think that’s where you make mistakes, when you put an artificial deadline,” Francona said last month. “We’re going to do what’s right for every player. If somebody isn’t ready, whether it’s him or somebody else, we’ll figure out a way to make it work until they’re ready.”
That thinking still seems to be the plan. Rather than try to force Abbott to be ready for the first week of April, they will just let him be ready whenever he’s ready. Since it seems to have been sort of a borderline call, perhaps he will only miss a very short time. IL stints can be backdated by three days, even at the start of the season, meaning he could be back as soon as 12 days into the campaign.
For now, the club will proceed without Abbott. Four rotation spots will be taken by Hunter Greene, Brady Singer, Nick Lodolo and Nick Martinez. As mentioned, the fifth will go to Spiers, who posted a 5.46 earned run average in a swing role last year. For what it’s worth, his numbers have been good in camp. He’s allowed three earned runs in 10 innings, with ten punchouts and four walks.
He likely won’t have a firm grip on a rotation spot. As mentioned, Abbott could return fairly quickly. The Reds also have Richardson and Connor Phillips as healthy options on the 40-man. Rhett Lowder is another, although he was slowed by elbow soreness early in camp and has an uncertain status at the moment. Prospect Chase Petty isn’t on the roster but should be in the Triple-A rotation and pushing for a promotion this year. Spiers has options and could be pushed to Triple-A himself at some point, or perhaps to the bullpen.
As for Ashcraft, he’s generally been a passable back-end starter of the ground ball variety. In 60 starts over the past three seasons, he has a 4.91 ERA. His 16.6% strikeout rate is subpar but his 7.6% walk rate is good and he’s kept 50.2% of balls in play on the dirt.
It was reported earlier in camp that the club had some hope that Ashcraft could thrive in a bullpen role. Per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic, Ashcraft said today that he’s excited about the move, hoping that his stuff plays up in shorter stints. His fastballs (four-seamer, sinker, cutter) have generally averaged in the 95-98 mile-per-hour range in his career. He hasn’t translated that into many punchouts yet but perhaps the relief role will allow him to find an extra gear.
Photo courtesy Sam Greene, Imagn Images.
Not surprised with Abbott only making a couple appearances after his setback. He needs to get geared up and stretched out more.
Hopefully Spiers will limit walks and keep the ball in the ballpark in the meantime.
It’s a good move. Watched the game a couple of days ago and he did an interview from the dugout (with Elli dropping gum or ice on his hat from behind, lol) and he was chomping at the bit as he should be. We’ve all seen his stuff and know he’s got it. He could be the best 5th starter in baseball if he can hold up endurance wise..
The last guy named Abbott pitched with one hand and was an ace. This kid needs to buck up and live up to his name!
Ashcraft’s slider has far and away been his best pitch in the majors. As a reliever and perhaps a different pitch mix, I think converting to the pen could really work out well for him.
“Not a serious team”…I’d always heard that the Cincinnati Reds were the oldest team in baseball. They were here long before you and they’ll still be here when you are little more than an afterthought in your grandchildren’s minds.
you are trolltastic!
I’m sorry but the Marlins don’t really have a fan base, neither do the Rays for that matter. The Reds are the oldest team with a rich history. Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Barry Larkin, I could keep going….
Troll
Reds have a 4 year window before turning into the pirates again
Ok Richard Noggin..
Hairball – Mom is calling you upstairs to eat your Hungry Man Salisbury Steak. It’s time to rub her bunions and watch Murder She Wrote. Don’t worry, someday you’ll get enough money to buy another blow up girlfriend, or maybe some duct tape to patch the one you have. That’s the life of a troll these days I guess. Sure beats living under a bridge. You have a nice day brother and remember to shower at least once a week.
Maybe you should’ve taken those language arts textbooks more seriously, harrisstan..
They will start sending guys out in their fifth year, thinking they will get more from the large markets.
It has happened before…twice.
They have some good pitching though, Lowder and Petty are close with no where to pitch, they are both pretty nice prospects. They have Brandon Williamson too recovering from TJ, he was a highly touted prospect.
I was surprised they traded for Brady Singer with all their young pitching but can’t have enough pitching. They need some help in the bullpen, it will be interesting how they handle that situation with the depth they have at SP.
Reds got a good problem of having too many pitchers ready to go. Too bad the spots aren’t available. Let’s hope they’re in 1st place come the trade deadline and they can use those resources to trade for a big bat.