Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Reds Rumors

Reds Agree To Over-Slot Deal With 3rd-Rounder Tyler Callihan

By | at

The Reds have agreed to an over-slot deal with third-rounder Tyler Callihan, the 85th selection in this year’s draft, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The high school infielder from Jacksonville will receive $1.5MM. That’s worth more than double the recommended value of Callihan’s pick ($710,700).

Callihan had committed to the University of South Carolina, but the soon-to-be 19-year-old’s agreement with the Reds takes him out of the Gamecocks’ plans. Meanwhile, the Reds may have gotten a steal in Callihan, whom MLB.com (No. 35) and Baseball America (No. 37) regard as one of the 40 best players in this year’s draft class. Both outlets agree the lefty-swinging Callihan possesses significant offensive upside, though his future defensive home is in question. While Callihan has garnered experience at catcher, his big league position could be in the infield.

At $9,528,600, the Reds entered the draft with the majors’ 13th-largest bonus pool. The Callihan agreement will leave them with just over $8MM to spend on their other picks – including TCU left-hander Nick Lodolo, whom they chose seventh overall.

Reds Outright Jose Lopez Off 40-Man Roster

By | at

The Reds announced that right-hander Jose Lopez has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the 40-man roster.  Lopez had already been playing at Triple-A Louisville already.  The move opens up a spot on Cincinnati’s 40-man, though no corresponding move has been announced.

Once a promising young arm in the Reds’ farm system, Lopez’s stock diminished after a shaky 2018 season that saw him post a 4.47 ERA over 141 Triple-A innings, and those troubles have only increased this season.  Lopez had an ungainly 6.98 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 1.62 K/BB rate over 49 frames for Louisville in 2019, experiencing both a sharp increase in his walk rate, and a whopping 13 homers allowed over those 49 innings.

A sixth-round pick for the Reds in the 2014 draft, the 25-year-old Lopez has yet to crack the Major Leagues.  He briefly left Cincinnati’s organization this winter when the Giants claimed him off waivers in February, though the Reds re-claimed Lopez back near the end of Spring Training.

Latest On Scooter Gennett

By | at

The Reds have gone without injured second baseman Scooter Gennett all season, but his return is getting closer. Gennett could begin a rehab assignment within “two or three weeks,” manager David Bell said Saturday (via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com).

Gennett suffered a right groin strain March 22, at which point he was projected to miss eight to 12 weeks. It’s now clear the 29-year-old won’t return until near the end of that timeline, if not later. Fortunately for the Reds, they’ve received excellent second base production even without Gennett. Minor league signing Derek Dietrich has been a revelation in Gennett’s place, having slashed an elite .260/.366/.707 (168 wRC+) with 17 home runs over 145 plate appearances.

Like Dietrich, Gennett originally arrived in Cincinnati as a low-risk pickup. The Reds claimed Gennett off waivers from the NL Central rival Brewers on the brink of the 2017 campaign. Little did either team know Gennett would emerge as one of the game’s most valuable second basemen in Cincy. The 28-year-old’s coming off a two-season, 1,135-PA stretch in which he batted .303/.351/.508 with 50 home runs to place third at his position in wRC+ (124) and sixth in fWAR (6.7).

Gennett will reclaim his spot once he returns, Bell suggested, saying, “Obviously, Scooter is going to be playing.” But Bell indicated the Reds’ lineup is big enough for Gennett and Dietrich, pointing to the latter’s ability to play multiple other infield positions – first and third base – as well as the outfield.

First (Joey Votto) and third (Eugenio Suarez) are spoken for in Cincinnati, whereas corner outfielders Yasiel Puig and Jesse Winker haven’t established themselves as Reds cornerstones the way Votto and Suarez have. And Dietrich has handily outproduced Puig and Winker, which could open the door for him in the outfield. Platooning Dietrich – a lefty hitter who does all his damage versus righties – with Puig or Winker wouldn’t be easy, though. The righty-swinging Puig has typically caused more harm to same-handed pitchers (that hasn’t been the case this year, but he has scuffled in general), while the lefty Winker hasn’t had any success against southpaws this season. Of course, the Reds could resolve the situation to a degree if they fall out of contention in the coming weeks and trade Puig – an impending free agent.

Reds Place Robert Stephenson On IL, Activate Zach Duke

By | at

The Reds announced today that they have placed righty Robert Stephenson on the 10-day injured list. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by southpaw Zach Duke, who is back from an IL stint for a right calf strain.

Stephenson is said to be dealing with a cervical strain. There’s really no indication at this point of how long he might be sidelined. Hopefully, it’ll only require a short bit of rest.

It’s unfortunate to see a health issue arise now for Stephenson, who has finally found something at the MLB level at 26 years of age. The former first-round pick has largely struggled in prior opportunities.

Stephenson is only carrying a 3.96 ERA in 25 innings this year, due in no small part to a low 58.6% strand rate. But he has shown signs of becoming a dominating reliever.

Moving to a full-time relief role has worked out quite nicely. Stephenson isn’t showing a huge fastball velocity jump, but he has all but shelved his change-up and drastically increased the usage of his slider. He now hucks it in with spin on over three of every five pitches.

Those changes have resulted in a hefty 21.1% swinging-strike rate, which Stephenson has converted into 12.6 K/9 while permitting a palatable 3.6 BB/9. Statcast calculates that he’s allowing just 28.6% hard contact.

Also heading onto the active roster for the Reds is lefty Wandy Peralta. There was another opening when Lucas Sims was optioned down after his spot start yesterday. The team also shifted starter Alex Wood to the 60-day injured list to make 40-man room for the claim of R.J. Alaniz. That’s a paper move regarding Wood, since he has already missed more than the sixty day minimum.

Reds Claim Ruben Alaniz

By | at

The Reds have claimed righty Ruben Alaniz off waivers from the Mariners, per an announcement from the Seattle club. It’s not yet clear what the M’s will do with the open 40-man slot.

Alaniz, who’s closing in on his 28th birthday, was knocked around in four outings earlier this year for Seattle. He signed a MLB pact despite qualifying as a minor-league free agent at the end of the 2018 season.

Things haven’t gone well this year at Triple-A, either. He has shown better there in the past, however. In 100 2/3 total frames at the highest level of the minors, Alaniz carries a 4.02 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.

Reds Add Eric Stout On Minor League Deal

By | at

The Reds have purchased the contract of left-hander Eric Stout from the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent American Association, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports (via Twitter). The team has yet to announce the move or the affiliate to which Stout will report.

Stout, 26, made his MLB debut with the Royals last season after spending four years in their minor league system. He appeared in just three games and struggled, allowing a pair of homers in his 2 1/3 innings of work, but Stout has a solid track record in the upper minors. A 13th-round draft pick back in 2014, the lefty joins the Reds organization with a career 3.76 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 124 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. He had a 13-to-3 K/BB ratio through nine innings in his brief time with the T-Bones this year.

Stout spent Spring Training 2019 with the Padres organization but wasn’t able to secure a spot on the big league roster and was given his release at the end of camp. He’s worked primarily as a reliever in his career, and lefty relief has been a weak point in Cincinnati this season beyond the excellent Amir Garrett. Wandy Peralta (recently optioned) and offseason signee Zach Duke (on the IL) have both struggled, while Brandon Finnegan has yet to pitch for an affiliate. Ian Krol has had a nice season with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in Louisville thus far and could eventually emerge in the Majors as a second lefty option, and Stout will add another depth piece to that mix.

Checking In On Last Year’s Toughest Outs

By | at

If you’re an offensive player in baseball, there is nothing more important than avoiding outs. Common sense indicates the more you get on base – whether with a hit, a walk or a hit by a pitch – the better your team’s chances are of scoring and ultimately winning. That’s why on-base percentage is more useful than batting average or slugging percentage, two other conventional stats that help define a hitter’s value.

Just six qualified hitters reached the .400-OBP mark in 2018.  The group included the best player in baseball, another potential Hall of Famer, each league’s MVP, an elite hitter who helped his team to a championship and a potential star in the making. Let’s take a look at how that six-man club is doing in 2019…

Mike Trout, Angels (2018 OBP: .460):

Here’s the “best player in baseball” mentioned above. The 27-year-old Trout has reached 45.5 percent of the time through 231 plate appearances, putting him right in line with last year’s league-best effort. He’s also on track for his fifth straight season with at least a .400 OBP. Trout was a .312 hitter in 2018 who walked 20.4 percent of the time. His average has noticeably dropped (to .283), but his walk rate is up a bit and opposing pitchers have helped Trout’s cause by already hitting him six times. He wore 10 pitches last year in 378 more PA.

Mookie Betts, Red Sox (2018 OBP: .438):

Betts got on base a bit less than Trout last season, but the Boston superstar led the sport in fWAR en route to AL MVP honors. While Betts hasn’t been quite as sharp this year, he has still avoided outs at a phenomenal clip (.400 in 255 trips to the plate). The 26-year-old has walked 14-plus percent of the time for the second consecutive season, but a 55-point decline in batting average (.346 to .291) and a 54-point BABIP drop (.368 to .314) have hurt his OBP. Plus, Betts isn’t on pace to match the eight HBPs he totaled in 2018, having picked up only two so far.

Joey Votto, Reds (2018 OBP: .417):

Votto’s the “potential Hall of Famer” named in the opening. The hitting savant has managed a remarkable .424 OBP dating back to his 2007 debut, in part because he has drawn nearly as many walks as strikeouts. However, that hasn’t been the case in 2019. Now in his age-35 season, Votto’s walk rate is at a pedestrian-by-his-standards 11.6 percent – down nearly 5 points from his career mark –  while his strikeouts have soared. Putting the ball in play less helps explain why Votto, a lifetime .309 hitter, has only mustered a .242 average this season. Worse, Statcast credits Votto with a .229 expected average, indicating a rebound may not be on the way. Despite his newfound woes, Votto has still put up an above-average .340 OBP in 215 PA this year, but it’s nothing to get excited about in the venerable first baseman’s case.

Brandon Nimmo, Mets (2018 OBP: .404):

Nimmo’s far and away the least accomplished member of this list, but that doesn’t take away that the 26-year-old was a stupendous offensive player in 2018. As only a .264 hitter, though, his high OBP came thanks in part to a league-leading 22 HBPs over 433 PA. Nimmo has not been a magnet for pitches this year, however, having taken three in 130 trips to the plate. He’s also batting a mere .200 and has seen his BABIP fall from .351 to .288. Nimmo is collecting walks at a terrific clip (16.1 percent), but his .344 OBP is still a 60-point drop-off from last season.

Christian Yelich, Brewers (2018 OBP: .402):

We arrive at the other MVP on this list. What’s Yelich, 26, doing for an encore? Well, he ranks third in the majors in OBP (.425), in part because his walk rate has climbed from 10.4 percent to 15.1. Yelich has also logged a .314 average even though his BABIP has sunk 87 points since last year.

J.D. Martinez, Red Sox (2018 OBP: .402):

Martinez, described above as “an elite hitter who helped his team to a championship,” has been closer to very good than great this season. A .375 BABIP/.330 average helped drive Martinez’s OBP last season, but he’s at .315/.298 in those categories through 219 PA this season. Consequently, the 31-year-old has “only” reached base 37.9 percent of the time. But Martinez is striking out a lot less, which bodes well, and Statcast puts his expected average at .321. Another .400-OBP season certainly isn’t out of the question for Martinez.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The Downside Of Being The 26th Man

By | at

In theory, the “26th man” doubleheader rule that MLB implemented in the 2012-16 wave of collective bargaining should work for all parties involved. Teams get an extra player, frequently a pitcher, to help manage the workload of the day’s pair of games. The player promoted to the big leagues gets a day of MLB service time and picks up a day of big league pay, in addition to the opportunity to make a nice impression on his organization. If the player in question is a pitcher, other members of the staff are spared from having to pitch on short rest and/or in extended outings.

Cody Reed | Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

It all sounds good! Well, it sounds good to most players. But what about the rare instances in which a player promoted to the Major Leagues as a 26th man ends up incurring an injury during that game? As Reds left-hander Cody Reed demonstrated this week, the rule isn’t exactly perfect.

Reed was summoned to serve as Cincinnati’s 26th man in a Monday twin bill with the Pirates and performed well, giving the Reds a pair of scoreless relief innings in the second game of the day. In doing so, he continued an impressive year that has seen him pitch 20 2/3 innings of 2.61 ERA ball in Triple-A and another 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball in the Majors. Unfortunately, he also sustained a strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. The Reds announced that Reed won’t throw for the next 10 to 14 days, which obviously meant a trip to the injured list.

The problem for Reed, though, is that because he was not technically on the 25-man roster as the 26th man in a doubleheader, he’ll recover from that injury on the minor league injured list rather than the Major League injured list. Logic would seemingly dictate that a player injured while performing in a Major League game would rehab that injury while receiving the benefits of the MLB IL — that is, service time and MLB pay. That won’t be the case for Reed or future players who are injured while serving as the 26th man, though.

It may not seem like a major distinction, but consider the discrepancy between the prorated Major League minimum salary and the monthly salaries that a players make in Triple-A. Reed is fortunate in the sense that he has enough big league service time to be on a decent split contract; he’ll earn $145K in the minors this season versus $565K in the Majors. (A player with less big league time or no big league time would not be earning as much.)

That’s a fairly sizable difference between what he’d earn in the Majors versus the minors — particularly for a player who has yet to establish himself as a big leaguer. If he requires a couple of throwing sessions after his shutdown period, he could be out for three weeks or upwards of a month. At that point, the prorated MLB salary would top his prorated Triple-A salary by anywhere from $40-60K.

To be clear, the Reds aren’t doing anything wrong by placing him on the minor league injured list and actually didn’t have a choice. That’s the way the rules were bargained. As a concession for allowing a 26th player to be brought up for a doubleheader and earn a day of service and big league pay, it was agreed that there would be no technical transaction associated with the move:

(dd) Any Club that expands its roster for these purposes must return to a 25-man Active Roster immediately after the conclusion of the second game (i.e., a post-game roster adjustment). The recall and waiver requirements and limitations contained in these Rules shall not apply to the 26th Player if returned to his previous Minor League club for these purposes. Moreover, a player’s addition to the 25-man Active roster for these purposes shall not affect the expiration of any 10-day period that may be required by Rule 11(b)(1). The return of the player to his previous Minor League club shall not be considered an assignment (i.e., to a Minor League club, an optional assignment under these Rules, or otherwise). A Club may return to a 25-man Active Roster by removing a player other than the 26th Player only if the Club’s addition of the 26th Player complied with all applicable Rules and the Basic Agreement, and the Club’s subsequent removal of the other player from its roster complied with all applicable Rules and the Basic Agreement (and both of those transactions will not be covered by the exception created by this Rule 2(c)(2)(A)(ii)).

(ee) The 26th Player shall be paid one day of Major League salary and shall receive one day of Major League service. Such day shall not be counted for purposes of counting days on option pursuant to the Articles XIX(E) and XXI(B) of the Basic Agreement or Rule 11(c).

In essence, the rules stipulate that a player must be on the 40-man roster to serve as the 26th man but is not technically recalled from the minors when he does so. That’s important to note; were it not for that distinction, Reed would not even have been eligible to pitch in the Majors that day. He’d been optioned down just eight days prior and, as such, wasn’t eligible for recall under normal circumstances. The Reds couldn’t even have sent someone else down if they’d wanted to, as keeping Reed up would not have “complied with all applicable Rules and the Basic Agreement.” In that regard, the quirks of this rule both benefited Reed by allowing him to be in the Majors on Monday and hurt him by disallowing him from rehabbing on the Major League injured list.

This is likely the precise type of scenario that concerned owners when pushing for these stipulations during negotiations. A more extreme example could see a player called up to make a one-off start in the nightcap of a doubleheader only to blow out his arm and require Tommy John surgery. That’d turn what might’ve been a roughly $3K spot start for ownership into a $500K+ salary on the injured list for the majority of the season (in addition to the accompanying service time).

That owners sought protection against these injury scenarios is understandable, but it’s still counter-intuitive that a player injured in a Major League game would be deprived of the benefits afforded to those on a big league roster. Had Reed simply been called up to the 25-man roster for a one day to lengthen the ’pen in a normal game and incurred this exact same injury, he’d go on the MLB IL and receive that service time and salary. That’s a risk that clubs run any other time they dip into their farm system for a one-day depth move, but it strangely doesn’t apply when playing multiple games in the same day.

Perhaps this is much ado about something that occurs so rarely that it’s not worth fretting over, but Cody Reed probably doesn’t think so.

Derek Dietrich Turns On The Power

By | at

Reds second baseman Derek Dietrich has seemingly been on a mission to torture the NL Central rival Pirates so far this season. The brash 29-year-old homered off the Pirates on Opening Day and continued his onslaught just over a week later, mashing a pair of HRs and helping spark a brawl in Pittsburgh on April 7. Not content to stop there, Dietrich victimized the Pirates this week for another four HRs in a four-game series, giving him seven in nine appearances against the Buccos.

Dietrich’s most publicized moments have come at Pittsburgh’s expense this season, but the Pirates aren’t the only team he has frustrated. As a .262/.368/.713 hitter through 144 plate appearances, Dietrich owns the majors’ seventh-highest wRC+ (171) among batters who have accrued at least 140 PA. He also leads the league in isolated power (.451) by 51 points over second-place Christian Yelich on the strength of 17 home runs. That’s already a career-best mark for Dietrich, who hadn’t amassed more than 16 in a season since he made his major league debut with the Marlins in 2013.

Dietrich was typically a useful player in Miami across six seasons and 2,132 PA, combining respectable offense (.254/.335/.422 – good for a 109 wRC+) with an ability to line up at several positions. Despite that, the Marlins – unwilling to pay Dietrich a projected $4.8MM in arbitration – designated him for assignment in November. While Dietrich now looks like yet another one who got away for the down-and-out Marlins, it’s worth noting the rest of the league didn’t really want him either during the offseason. Finally, almost three full months after Miami cut Dietrich, he joined the Reds on a minor league deal in February.

Baseball slept on Dietrich over the winter, but he has since burst forth as one of the game’s shrewdest offseason signings. For the Reds, his emergence has been all the more fortuitous given that they have gone all season without injured second baseman Scooter Gennett. Like Gennett, whom the Reds claimed off waivers from Milwaukee entering the 2017 season, it appears Dietrich has gone from under-the-radar pickup to star in their uniform.

The question is: How is Dietrich suddenly one of the league’s most powerful and productive hitters? It seems to stem from a change in approach. Dietrich is pulling the ball more than ever, which is conducive to hitting for power, and looks like the latest beneficiary of the sport’s fly ball revolution. Although he never posted a fly ball rate better than 43.3 percent in a season with the Marlins, he’s currently at 52.2 percent – the sixth-highest mark in the league. As you’d expect from his stat line, Dietrich has made his fly balls count. He’s averaging 348 feet on his flies, a 38-foot increase from last year’s 310, and has significantly upped his exit velocity while putting the ball in the air. Dietrich’s fly balls and line drives have traveled at a 96.7 mph mean after clocking in at 90.8 in 2018, according to Statcast.

In theory, the fact that Dietrich is running a ridiculously low batting average on balls in play (.176, compared to .308 in Miami) makes his success all the more amazing. That said, fly ball-heavy hitters aren’t usually candidates for high BABIPs; beyond that, the stat doesn’t factor in homers – which make up more than half of Dietrich’s 32 hits this season. Though there’s a strong likelihood Dietrich’s BABIP will rise closer to career norms as the season progresses, his overall production will inevitably go backward to some degree.

The reality is that Dietrich’s not going to continue hitting dingers on 36.5 percent of fly balls, as only the MVP-winning Yelich broke the 30 percent plateau last season. Dietrich also isn’t some plate discipline savant who controls the zone at an elite level. To his credit, Dietrich’s walking at a career-high 9.3 percent clip and has slashed his strikeout rate by almost 5 percent since 2018 (from 25.4 to 20.8). However, those figures are still just a bit above average. And the left-handed Dietrich has continued a career-long trend of slumping against same-handed pitchers, who have held him to a meek .154/.273/.300 line this year. So it’s righties who are going to have to figure out how to handle him. Here’s a tip for them: Dietrich hasn’t done much against inside pitches, as these charts from Baseball Savant show, but has dominated versus most offerings in the middle or outer half. And yet, pitchers have largely lived in Dietrich’s hot zones, evidenced by this heat map via FanGraphs.

Dietrich is unlikely to keep this up (not many could), but that’s not to say his offense will careen off a cliff. True, there’s a 46-point gap between his weighted on-base average (.442) and expected wOBA (.396), yet he still ranks in the top 91st percentile of the majors in xwOBA, per Statcast. If Dietrich manages to produce at anywhere near his xwOBA for the rest of the season, the Reds would surely be ecstatic. They’re paying Dietrich a relative pittance this year ($2MM) and can control him through arbitration in 2020. That could help make Dietrich a valuable summer trade chip if Cincinnati’s out of contention by then. For now, though, the Reds appear to have another Gennett-esque steal in their lineup.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Reds Release Former Notable Trade Acquisition

By | at

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top