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Phillies Acquire Tyler Gilbert From Reds

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The Phillies have acquired left-hander Tyler Gilbert from the Reds, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic on X. Since Gelb uses the word “purchased,” it seems the Reds will receive cash considerations in return. The southpaw wasn’t on the Reds’ 40-man roster and therefore won’t need a roster spot with the Phillies.

Gilbert, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason. He has made seven appearances, three of them starts, logging 11 2/3 innings. He has an awful earned run average of 13.11 so far, though that’s obviously a tiny sample and there are some other numbers that are more favorable.

The lefty has a massive .545 batting average on balls in play so far and 43.3% strand rate, both of which are unsustainably unlucky. His 20.6% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate are close to average and he hasn’t allowed a home run yet this year, so his FIP is actually 2.94 in his brief 2024 showing. Regardless, it seems the Reds are willing to move on take the cash while letting the Phils take a chance on him.

Gilbert has 91 2/3 innings of major league experience, working as a swingman with the Diamondbacks over the previous three seasons, famously throwing a no-hitter in his first career start. He currently sports a 4.32 ERA in his career, with a 17.1% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. He was outrighted by the Snakes at the end of last year, which led to his minor league deal with the Reds.

The Phillies don’t really need starting depth in the short-term. Taijuan Walker recently returned from the injured list, which bumped Spencer Turnbull to the bullpen despite having a 1.67 ERA on the year. The rest of the rotation consists of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez. There’s also Max Castillo, who is on the 40-man roster and starting in Triple-A. Prospect Mick Abel isn’t yet on the roster but is also starting at the Triple-A level. Andrew Painter could be rehabbing at some point later this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of last year.

But pitching depth can often be thinned out in a hurry, which is why there’s the old saw that you can never have too much. It’s also possible that the Phils may envision Gilbert focusing more on relief work as a way to unlock another gear with him. If he cracks the roster at any point, he still has one option year remaining and less than two years of service time.

Reds Select Conner Capel

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The Reds announced a series of roster moves today, selecting the contract of outfielder Conner Capel while also activating outfielder TJ Friedl and right-hander Frankie Montas from their respective stints on the injured list. The club had optioned left-hander Sam Moll yesterday and opened up two more roster spots today by optioning outfielders Nick Martini and Bubba Thompson. To open a 40-man spot for Capel, right-hander Ian Gibaut was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Capel, who turns 27 this month, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason. He has been in Triple-A so far this year and performing quite well. Through 122 plate appearances, he has walked almost as often as he’s struck out, with a 16.4% walk rate compared to a 17.2% strikeout rate. He’s hit seven home runs and has a batting line of .268/.397/.567, which translates to a 146 wRC+.

The outfielder has 145 major league plate appearances on his résumé with a slash line of .280/.366/.408. He struggled in Triple-A last year, which caused the Athletics to bump him off their roster, but he hit .263/.364/.422 in the minors in 2022 for a 112 wRC+.

On top of that mostly solid offensive work in the past few years, Capel can steal a few bases and move around the outfield. He’s been playing both left and center field this year, with some past experience in right field as well. He has swiped six bags so far here in 2024, with double-digit tallies in most of his previous minor league seasons.

The Reds came into the season with seemingly too many position players, but that apparent surplus evaporated fairly quickly. Noelvi Marté was hit with an 80-game PED suspension, Matt McLain required shoulder surgery and Friedl suffered a wrist fracture. Lately, some players have been missing time without going on the IL, including Jake Fraley, Tyler Stephenson, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeimer Candelario.

That led to some extra playing time for players like Martini and Thompson. Martini hit two homers on Opening Day but has added just one more since then and is currently batting .177/.200/.329 for the season overall. Thompson is one of the fastest players in the league but hasn’t hit much. With the Reds this year, he has struck out in 11 of his 18 plate appearances.

Friedl has hit .267/.341/.456 in his career and should give a boost to the lineup. Capel could as well, but it’s also possible he’s behind Friedl, Will Benson, Spencer Steer and Fraley on the outfield/designated hitter depth chart. But perhaps he’ll fill Thompson’s role as a speedy bench outfielder, though with better abilities in the batter’s box. Capel still has an option remaining and can be easily sent back down to the minors at a later date if the Reds so choose.

Montas hit the IL a couple of weeks ago after being hit by a comebacker on his right forearm. The x-rays were negative but the club wanted to give him a breather as the soreness and swelling went down. He has now returned after a minimum stay on the IL, as hoped. Nick Martinez made a couple of starts in his absence but made a relief appearance on the weekend. Montas will slot into the rotation alongside Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene and Graham Ashcraft.

Gibaut, 30, has been on the injured list all year due to a right forearm strain. He has tried rehabbing a couple of times but keeps getting shut down with renewed soreness. Just over a week ago, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer relayed on X that the righty was shut down again and going for another exam. Today’s transfer means he’s ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement, which would be late May. That doesn’t seem to be possible at the moment since he’s not throwing and would need some time to ramp even if he is soon cleared to throw.

Latest On TJ Friedl

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  • Reds outfielder TJ Friedl is doing well in his recovery from a right wrist fracture suffered prior to the start of the season, with MLB.com’s Injury Tracker noting that manager David Bell told reporters yesterday that the 28-year-old is on a “fast track” toward returning to the big league club. Friedl began a rehab assignment earlier this week and, according to Bell, will return to the majors “whenever we feel he’s gotten enough at-bats” in the minor leagues. Friedl enjoyed something of a breakout season last year as he slashed an impressive .279/.352/.467 in 138 games as the club’s everyday center fielder and should provide a big boost to a Reds club that has relied on Stuart Fairchild and Bubba Thompson in center in his absence.

Reds Release Mike Ford

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1:35PM: The Reds officially announced Ford’s release.

TODAY, 8:18AM: The Reds will release Ford, Jon Heyman reports (via X).

MAY 1: First baseman Mike Ford has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Reds, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The team will now have 48 hours to decide whether to select Ford to the big league roster or grant him his release.

The 31-year-old Ford had a massive spring training performance with Cincinnati and has carried that over into the regular season in Triple-A Louisville. The slugger mashed at a ridiculous .455/.486/.727 clip and belted three homers in 31 spring plate appearances. He’s now hitting .297/.381/.538 with six homers for the Bats and has drawn walks at a hearty 11.4% clip against a manageable 19.4% strikeout rate.

Ford’s strong spring and Triple-A production come on the heels of a nice performance with the 2023 Mariners. He hit just .228 but reached base at a .323 clip and slugged .475 in 251 trips to the plate. The longtime Yankees farmhand circled the bases on 16 home runs last year and also smacked six doubles. His 9.6% walk rate was better than league-average, but his 32.3% strikeout rate was well north of average and a notable red flag.

Ford has long had plus power and questionable contact rates. That makes this year’s small sample in Triple-A worthy of some skepticism but also intriguing for the Reds or any other team seeking a low-cost source of lefty power — be it off the bench or in a more prominent first base/designated hitter role. Ford hasn’t been allowed to face lefties much in his career but torched them in 24 plate appearances last year and has actually fared better against fellow southpaws in his career at large. It’s only 108 plate appearances, but he’s a .268/.343/.577 hitter versus lefties compared to .200/.303/.389 against righties (in a much larger sample of 611 plate appearances).

For the Reds, there could be some temptation to bring Ford to the big league roster. Christian Encarnacion-Strand has made 25 starts at first base but is batting only .196/.222/.314 with a 28.7% strikeout rate and just a 2.8% walk rate in 108 plate appearances. The former top prospect had a nice debut showing in 2023 (.270/.328/.477 in 241 plate appearances) but has been 57% worse than average at the plate in ’24, by measure of wRC+.

Designated hitter/outfielder Nick Martini has also cooled after a blistering start to the season; he homered twice in the season opener and slashed .290/.303/.677 through his first 33 plate appearances but has just five hits in 46 subsequent plate appearances. Martini has a minor league option remaining but could be a DFA candidate, given his journeyman status. Encarnacion-Strand has a full slate of three minor league option years remaining, if Cincinnati wants to give him a breather in Louisville to get back on track. Speculatively speaking, swapping out Ford for either of Martini or Encarnacion-Strand makes some sense in the short term.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand Day-To-Day With Hand/Wrist Injury

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  • X-rays were negative on both Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Tyler Stephenson after the Reds duo were each hit on the hand by pitches in Saturday’s game.  Encarnacion-Strand might be the slightly more serious situation of the two, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the infielder’s X-ray revealed a small previous fracture in the same spot that CES was hit on Saturday.  Encarnacion-Strand said he had “no clue” about the origin of the older injury, and he hadn’t felt any discomfort prior to this most recent HBP.  It isn’t yet clear if Encarnacion-Strand will get an MRI to further explore the injury, but he hoped to return to the lineup within a day or two.

Reds Claim Peyton Burdick

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The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed outfielder Peyton Burdick off waivers from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A Louisville. Left-hander Alex Young was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Cincinnati — or rather, Louisville for now — marks the latest stop in an eventful year for the increasingly well-traveled Burdick. The Marlins originally designated him for assignment back in February and traded him to the Orioles for cash. Baltimore subsequently designated Burdick themselves, losing him to the White Sox via waivers. When Chicago designated Burdick yet again, the O’s re-claimed him. He’ll now join a Reds organization that has been without center fielder TJ Friedl since spring training due to a broken wrist.

Miami selected Burdick with the No. 82 overall pick back in 2019, and he posted huge numbers up through the Double-A level as he climbed the ranks in their system. His bat has stalled out in Triple-A and the big leagues, but Burdick’s blend of easy right-handed pop, speed and an ability to play all three outfield positions still make him an intriguing depth pickup for the Reds at a time when bench outfielders like Stuart Fairchild and Bubba Thompson have failed to produce. Cincinnati’s bench, in general, has been a weak spot; utility infielder Santiago Espinal and backup catcher Luke Maile have both been well below-average at the plate as well.

Burdick is just a .200/.281/.368 hitter with a huge 38% strikeout rate in the majors, although that comes with a notable small-sample caveat, as he’s tallied just 139 plate appearances. He’s hit for a low average but shown power and plate discipline in the upper minors, slashing .212/.324/.426 in 1021 Triple-A plate appearances. Burdick has gone down on strikes in 33.2% of his Triple-A plate appearances as well, but scouting reports have long been enamored of his plus-plus power and above-average speed. He batted .182/.333/.455 in 69 plate appearances with the Orioles’ Triple-A club in 2024.

Reds Place Frankie Montas On Injured List

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The Reds announced today that right-hander Frankie Montas has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right forearm contusion, with fellow righty Casey Legumina recalled to take his place on the active roster.

Montas was struck by a comebacker off the bat of Taylor Ward in yesterday’s game, departing after recording just two outs. Amazingly, the bullpen covered 8 1/3 shutout innings and the Reds pulled off a 3-0 victory over the Angels. X-rays on Montas’s arm came back negative but he said yesterday that he would probably have to miss at least one start due to the soreness and swelling.

It seems the concern is still on the mild side, though the club will give him a couple of weeks to rest his arm. Per Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer, manager David Bell says the expectation is that Montas will just miss two starts, with Nick Martinez taking the ball on Thursday to fill the rotation spot.

The Reds signed Montas to a one-year, $16MM deal in the offseason, hoping for a bounceback campaign. He had struggled with shoulder problems in the second half of 2022 and then missed almost the entire 2023 season after undergoing surgery to address that shoulder.

But prior to those shoulder issues, he was quite good. In 2021, he tossed 187 innings for the A’s with a 3.37 earned run average. He struck out 26.6% of batters faced while walking just 7.3%, and he also got grounders on 42.8% of balls in play. The following year, he had a 3.18 ERA with similar peripherals before getting flipped to the Yankees. The shoulder problems had already popped up before that deal but got worse after it, leading to the surgery and lengthy absence.

The Reds have not yet seen the bounceback they were hoping for. Montas has a 4.19 ERA through his five starts but might be lucky to even be at that level. He has punched out just 16.7% of opponents thus far while giving out free passes at an 11.9% clip. Were it not for a .263 batting average on balls in play, he might have allowed even more runs, which is why his 5.33 FIP and 5.12 SIERA are about a run higher than his ERA.

We’re still talking about a small sample size of 19 1/3 innings but it’s also perhaps worth nothing that his stuff hasn’t come all the way back to pre-surgery levels. He averaged 96.4 miles per hour on his fastball in 2021 but is only at 94 mph so far this year, with his other pitches all down a few ticks as well. Perhaps Montas will find that missing velocity later in the year but he’ll now have to sit on the shelf for a few weeks.

In the meantime, the rotation will consist of Martinez, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft and Andrew Abbott. Martinez opened the season in the rotation and made two starts but got bumped to a long relief role when Lodolo came off the injured list. He spent his time with the Padres moving between starting and relieving, so this is something he has experience with and likely why the Reds signed him in the first place.

Frankie Montas Leaves Game Due To Forearm Bruise

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The Reds’ 3-0 shutout of the Angels today saw five relievers combine for 8 1/3 innings of work, after a forearm bruise forced starter Frankie Montas out of the game in the first inning.  Montas was struck by a Taylor Ward line drive and was still able to throw Ward out at first base, though he then left the mound after an examination from the team trainer.  X-rays revealed no fractures, though Montas told reporters (including Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer) after the game that there is enough soreness and swelling that it seems unlikely that he’ll make his next start.

That next start is set for Friday against the Rangers, and since the Reds don’t have another off-day until May 2, another start would have to be covered if Montas needs more recovery time than just the one turn through the rotation.  It seems like the injured list might therefore be a possibility for Montas just so the Reds aren’t left short-handed, though the team figures to evaluate Montas over the next few days before making a decision.  Montas has a 4.19 ERA over 19 1/3 innings for Cincinnati this season, as he followed up two strong opening starts with much shakier performances in his two outings prior to today’s abbreviated appearance.

Ian Gibaut Facing "Renewed" Forearm Discomfort

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  • Reds right-hander Ian Gibaut has missed the entire 2024 season to this point due to discomfort in his right forearm, and the club announced yesterday that he had been returned from his rehab assignment following “renewed” discomfort in the area. Per MLB.com’s injury tracker, manager David Bell recently indicated that Gibaut could resume his rehab assignment at some point this week. Even so, it’s unwelcome news for a Reds club that leaned heavily on the right-hander last year as he pitched to a strong 3.33 ERA in 75 2/3 innings of work. With Gibaut out of commission, the Reds have relied on Fernando Cruz and Emilio Pagan to set up for closer Alexis Diaz.

Reds Claim Liván Soto From Orioles

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The Reds have claimed infielder Liván Soto off waivers from the Orioles, per announcements from both clubs. The O’s had recently designated him for assignment. The Reds transferred Tejay Antone to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move and optioned Soto to Triple-A Louisville. The O’s also announced that catcher David Bañuelos, also recently designated for assignment, has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.

Soto, 24 in June, has been riding the roster carousel all year. He began the year with the Angels but went to the Orioles via waivers in February. The Angels claimed him right back shortly thereafter but the O’s claimed him a second time last week. But when Tyler Wells suddenly developed some elbow inflammation earlier this week and the O’s didn’t have time to get a fresh arm from the minors, they added Bañuelos, who was already on hand as part of the taxi squad. But doing so required bumping Soto off his roster spot yet again.

He continues to garner interest based on his speed and defensive versatility. He has racked up a decent number of steals in the minors while playing the three infield positions to the left of first base, as well as a very brief stint in the outfield.

Offensively, he’s hit .375/.414/.531 in his major league career, though in a tiny sample of 71 plate appearances. His larger body of work in the minors hasn’t been as impressive, as he’s hit .246/.340/.355 for a wRC+ of 86 in 1,505 plate appearances since the start of 2021. Nonetheless, the defense and speed are attractive, especially since he has two options and doesn’t require an active roster spot.

The Reds came into this year with a surplus of infield talent, so much so that Spencer Steer and Jonathan India were seemingly ticketed for either outfield work or multi-positional roles. However, Noelvi Marté was given an 80-game PED suspension and then Matt McLain required shoulder surgery, subtracting two of their planned everyday options. The club acquired Santiago Espinal for a bit of extra infield depth and now Soto can give them a bit more.

The Reds effectively had a roster spot to burn since Antone required season-ending surgery last week. That made him destined to be transferred to the 60-day IL at some point, which has now come to pass and allowed the club to add Soto to the system.

As for Bañuelos, as mentioned, he was hastily added to the O’s roster when they had an open spot and he was already with the club. They put him into the game late, allowing him to make his major league debut when he hit for Colton Cowser and flied out. Bañuelos described it as “one of the coolest moments of my life,” though the O’s designated him for assignment the next day. Now that he’s cleared waivers, he will return to his previous role, providing the O’s with non-roster depth in the catching position.

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