Reds Designate Brandon Leibrandt, Lyon Richardson For Assignment

The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Zach McCambley and recalled fellow righty Luis Mey. In corresponding moves, lefty Brandon Leibrandt and righty Lyon Richardson have been designated for assignment.

The Reds have been making frequent roster moves on the pitching side in recent days, as they try to cover for some injuries. On Friday, Graham Ashcraft hit the 60-day injured list with a sprained UCL, with the club selecting Yunior Marté to replace him. The next day, Pierce Johnson hit the IL with elbow inflammation and the club selected Richardson to the roster in his place, designating Kyle Nicolas for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Yesterday, the club selected Leibrandt and designated Marté for assignment.

Chase Burns was supposed to start yesterday’s game but was scratched due to illness. He hasn’t been placed on the IL and may start Wednesday’s game but the Reds had to improvise yesterday. Richardson tossed the first inning, allowing four runs. Caleb Ferguson tossed two scoreless, followed by Leibrandt going six, allowing five runs in a game the Reds dropped to the Royals 9-2. Richardson and Leibrandt have now been quickly bumped into DFA limbo to get fresh arms into the mix.

Leibrandt, 33, now has 21 1/3 innings of major league experience in scattered fashion. He threw nine innings over five appearances for the Marlins in 2020, then logged 6 1/3 for the 2024 Reds, followed by yesterday’s six. He has a 5.91 earned run average in that time. He has a 4.14 ERA in 385 Triple-A innings and has also bounced to independent ball and the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan.

Richardson, 26, was a second-round pick of the Reds back in 2018. He mostly worked as a starter on his way up the minor league ladder but struggled in that role upon reaching Triple-A. In 2025, he was in a primary relief role with mixed results. He tossed 32 Triple-A innings with a 4.22 ERA. His 23.5% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate were both around average while his 50% strikeout rate was quite strong. In 37 2/3 innings in the majors, he got ground balls at a similar clip but his 17.4% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate were both subpar.

He exhausted his final option year in 2025 and the Reds were able to outright him off the roster in the offseason. He began this year as non-roster depth, tossing 30 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.75 ERA. His 10.7% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 26% of opponents while inducing grounders on 48.7% of balls in play. The poor ERA was partially due to an unfortunate 52.5% strand rate, which is why his 3.62 FIP painted a more flattering picture.

That got him back up to the majors but only for one subpar outing as an emergency opener. He’ll likely end up back on the waiver wire. Since he just cleared in January, he could clear again, unless a club snakebit by injuries takes a flier on him. Since he has already been outrighted once in his career, he would now have the right to elect free agency if he is outrighted again in the coming days.

McCambley, 27, has spent most of his career in the Marlins organization until recently. The Phillies took him in the Rule 5 draft but he was returned to the Marlins at the end of spring training. He was flipped to the Reds last month in exchange for outfielder Rece Hinds.

His Triple-A numbers have been encouraging apart from a lack of control. Between the Marlins and Reds this year, he has thrown 30 1/3 innings at the top minor league level with a 2.37 ERA. He has given a free pass to 14.9% of opponents but has struck out 30.6% of batters faced while inducing grounders on 53.4% of balls in play. The ERA is nice but he has benefitted from a .254 batting average on balls in play and 86.6% strand rate, so his 4.54 FIP is almost double his ERA. It’s been an unusual few months in terms of transactions but he is now finally in position to make his major league debut.

Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images