The Reds announced that they have selected right-hander Ian Gibaut to their roster. They had a 40-man vacancy after recently returning Rule 5 pick Cooper Bowman to the Athletics, so no corresponding move is necessary today.
Gibaut, 31, is no stranger to Cincinnati. He’s spent the past two and a half seasons in a Reds uniform and has logged a bit more than three quarters of his 147 career innings with them. He was non-tendered back in November but quickly returned on a minor league deal and has pitched his way back into the bullpen with a solid spring effort. In 11 innings, the righty allowed five runs on 13 hits and three walks with 12 strikeouts (4.09 ERA).
In his two-plus seasons as a Red, Gibaut has logged a 3.77 earned run average. That’s come in a sample of 112 1/3 frames, and he’s struck out 24.5% of opponents against a 9.8% walk rate along the way. He’s not likely to land in many high-leverage spots, but he’ll join Taylor Rogers, Emilio Pagan, Scott Barlow, Graham Ashcraft, Sam Moll, Tony Santillan and Brent Suter in rounding out the Opening Day bullpen for manager Terry Francona’s first year at the helm in Cincinnati.
Gibaut has 3.077 years of big league service time, meaning he’s controllable for two years beyond the current season if the Reds choose to retain him via arbitration. He’s out of minor league options, so he’d need to pass through waivers before he could be sent to Triple-A. Even if he were to clear, Gibaut could reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
If he can pitch the way he did in 2023 this will be a good move.
Ian will have to pitch as well as 2023, if not better. Besides Diaz, there are a bunch of talented relief pitchers begiining the year at Louisville. Gibaut is currently “last in- first out” and must perform to stay in Cincy.
I’ve been waiting for Gibaut…
Just don’t put him in a tie game.
Hey Gibaut! Don’t take it personally, This one hates everyone.
Already the hub of preseason optomist. Tongue in cheek!
I’m glad to see Gibaut back. He pitched in close to 80 games in 2023. 76? His ERA ballooned towards the end. He was one of the team’s better relievers so Bell kept running him out there until his arm fell off. He’s not elite, but he’s a solid guy to have in the pen.
Gibaut is a perfect example of how modern teams should approach non-elite relievers—cut them to avoid arbitration costs, re-sign them on cheap deals, and cycle through them while squeezing out surplus value.