Reds Designate Casey Kelly For Assignment
The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Brandon Leibrandt from Triple-A Louisville. Right-hander Casey Kelly has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Cincinnati’s pitching staff has been quite banged up of late. Coming into August, they already had Graham Ashcraft, Brandon Williamson, Brent Suter, Ian Gibaut and Tejay Antone on the injured list. Since the month has started, Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Christian Roa have been added to the pile.
The club has already made a few transactions to bolster the pitching staff in recent days, including selecting Kelly. The 34-year-old had been pitching for the LG Twins of the KBO but got released when that club signed Elieser Hernández. That ended an almost six-year relationship, as Kelly had signed with the Twins going into 2019. He had a 3.25 ERA in that time, tossing just under 1,000 innings, but that ERA jumped to 4.51 this year and the Twins let him go.
He landed a minor league deal with the Reds in early August and made two Triple-A starts, allowing four earned runs in eight innings. He got called up to the majors a few days ago and logged 5 1/3 innings over two relief appearances, allowing three earned runs in that time.
The Reds needed six pitchers to get through last night’s game, including Kelly, and have decided to get a fresh arm into the mix. With the trade deadline now passed, Kelly will be placed on waivers in the coming days. He has a previous career outright and would therefore have the right to elect free agency if he passes through waivers unclaimed.
Taking his spot is the 31-year-old Leibrandt. He has a small amount of major league experience, having tossed nine innings for the Marlins in the shortened 2020 season. Since then, he has bounced around to various minor league and indy ball clubs.
He started 2024 with the High Point Rockers of the independent Atlantic League, tossing 19 1/3 innings over four starts with a tiny ERA of 0.93. That got him a minor league deal with the Reds in May and he has been with Louisville since then. He has logged 72 2/3 innings over 15 starts there with a 4.46 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 39% ground ball rate.
Given the club’s aforementioned challenges with the pitching staff, they may call upon Leibrandt to absorb some innings at some point. He still has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time, so the club will be able to retain him for a long time. But since they have been rotating guys on and off the roster lately, it’s entirely possible that it will be a short stint for Leibrandt, like it was for Kelly.
Reds Outright Alan Busenitz
The Reds have sent right-hander Alan Busenitz outright to Triple-A Louisville, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
Busenitz, 34, had the right to elect free agency but it appears he has chosen to accept this assignment. He pitched in Tuesday’s game for the Bats, tossing two scoreless innings. That will give the Reds an extra bit of non-roster depth.
The Cincinnati pitching staff is pretty banged up at the moment. Each of Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Christian Roa have hit the injured list this month. The club already had Graham Ashcraft, Brandon Williamson, Brent Suter, Ian Gibaut and Tejay Antone on the shelf, so it adds up a lot of absences.
They are currently two games into a stretch of playing eight games in seven days thanks to a double-header coming up on Friday, so the group of guys who aren’t on the IL might be fairly taxed in the coming days, which could lead to them reaching into their depth from time to time.
Busenitz signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason and has now tossed 57 Triple-A innings for the year over 41 appearances. He has allowed 3.79 earned runs per nine innings with a 21.6% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 42.7% ground ball rate. He was selected to the big league club last week and tossed one inning for them, but allowed three earned runs. He now has a 4.71 ERA in 65 big league frames dating back to his 2017 debut.
If the Reds need a fresh arm in the future, particularly one capable of tossing multiple innings out of the bullpen, Busenitz could perhaps get back to the majors and have a chance to add to his totals.
Reds To Promote Rhett Lowder
The Reds are going to promote pitching prospect Rhett Lowder, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic on X. The young righty will start for Cincinnati on Friday, making his major league debut. The club will need to open spots on both the active and 40-man rosters to make space for Lowder.
Lowder, now 22, was a standout during his time at Wake Forest. In his final year with the Demon Deacons, he tossed 120 1/3 innings, allowing 1.87 earned runs per nine. He struck out 38.6% of batters faced while giving out walks just 6.5% of the time. He was one of the top ranked players in the 2023 draft and the Reds took him seventh overall, the second pitcher taken after the Pirates took Paul Skenes with the first overall pick, with Lowder eventually signing and receiving a $5.7MM bonus.
The young righty didn’t make his professional debut last year, but he was still considered one of the top 100 prospects in the sport based on his college numbers and draft pedigree. Here in 2024, the Reds started him off at High-A, but his time there proved to be short. In five starts, he tossed 25 1/3 innings with a 2.49 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, 5.9% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate.
That got him bumped to Double-A, where he made 16 starts with a 4.31 ERA but better peripherals. He had a 23.8% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 50.9% ground ball rate. If it weren’t for a fairly high .333 batting average on balls in play, he would have fared better, which is why his 3.33 FIP was almost a full run better than his ERA.
Lowder then got bumped to Triple-A and made one good start there, tossing six shutout innings on Thursday last week. Though Lowder’s numbers have continued to impress, he may not have been promoted to the majors if it weren’t for the club getting devastated by injuries. In the month of August, the Reds have lost Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Christian Roa to the injured list.
Losing a bunch of arms like that would be a challenge for any club, but the Reds already had guys like Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson on the IL. Also, they have a double-header on Friday and just started a stretch of playing eight games in seven days. The current rotation mix involves rookie Julian Aguiar and swingmen who have been bumped into starting roles, such as Nick Martinez, Carson Spiers and Junis.
Perhaps this will just be a spot start to help the club navigate this challenging patch of the schedule. Even if Lowder stays a bit longer than one outing, the Reds will surely be keeping his rookie status intact one way or another. The club is now nine games out of a playoff spot and doesn’t have a strong chance of cracking the postseason at this point.
Lowder is already a consensus top prospect in the sport. Baseball America currently has him in the #38 slot overall. FanGraphs has him at #73, MLB Pipeline at #35 and ESPN at #55. Assuming the Reds don’t let him toss 50 innings this year, he’ll still be a rookie going into 2025 and will likely still be on those lists in some form.
That will allow the Reds to potentially take advantage of the prospect promotion incentive. To combat service time manipulation, the collective bargaining agreement awards draft picks to clubs if certain conditions are met. If the player is on two of three top 100 lists at BA, MLB Pipeline and ESPN with less than 60 days of service time, and then is promoted early enough in a season to get a full year of service, he can earn his club an extra draft pick just after the first round by either winning Rookie of the Year or finishing in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting during his pre-arbitration years.
At this point, the Reds don’t have much left to play for in 2024, so they will probably look to keep that PPI incentive on the table. But for now, they can get give Lowder a taste of big league life as they trudge through this viscous portion of the schedule. Though the club is currently in rough shape due to all those health concerns, fans can dream of a future rotation consisting of Lowder, Greene, Abbott, Lodolo and others going forward, as no one in that group is slated for free agency until after 2027.
Reds Select Evan Kravetz
The Reds announced today that they have selected the contract of left-hander Evan Kravetz. Right-hander Casey Legumina has been optioned to Triple-A Louisville in a corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Stuart Fairchild has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Kravetz, 27, gets the call to the show for the first time. He was selected by the Reds in the fifth round of the 2019 draft and has been climbing the minor league ladder since then. He made his professional debut with one inning in Rookie ball in his draft year, but then the minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020.
Since then, as he’s moved towards the higher levels of the minors, he has racked up plenty of strikeouts but also given out plenty of walks. From 2021 to 2024, he has tossed 243 1/3 minor league innings, allowing 3.99 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 28% of batters faced in that time but also given out free passes at an 11.1% rate. That includes 42 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 3.40 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate.
The Cincinnati pitching staff has been fairly snakebit of late. Each of Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Christian Roa have hit the injured list this month. Jakob Junis made an emergency start yesterday and he was followed by five relievers, including Legumina. Thanks to a double-header coming up on Friday, the club is in the midst of a stretch wherein they play eight games in seven days.
The club needs all the help it can get to survive the coming week, so Kravetz has been summoned to be a part of the solution. The Reds are also reportedly calling up prospect Rhett Lowder to handle one of the two games on Friday. Both pitchers will be making their respective MLB debuts as soon as they take the mound.
Fairchild was placed on the 10-day IL yesterday due to a left thumb sprain. Evidently, the Reds don’t expect him back this year, based on this transfer. He’ll spend the rest of the season on the 60-day IL but will need to be added back onto the 40-man in the offseason, as there is no IL from five days after the World Series until the start of Spring Training.
MLBTR Podcast: Scott Servais, Perry Minasian, The Orioles’ Rotation, And Joey Votto
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Mariners fire Scott Servais, hire Dan Wilson as manager (1:30)
- Angels extend general manager Perry Minasian (10:50)
- Orioles optioned Trevor Rogers to the minors amid other rotation challenges (23:15)
- Reds legend Joey Votto announces retirement (33:15)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- In my opinion, Max Fried‘s 2024 has cost him $100MM+ due to injury and some weirdly shaky games/random innings. Do you agree and does this make him more/less likely to re-sign with the Braves? (41:40)
- Appears Justin Verlander will not hit the 140 innings pitched needed for his $35MM vesting option for 2025, making him a free agent at the end of the season. What kind of market can we expect for Verlander? What teams interested, salary, contract length. (50:20)
Check out our past episodes!
- Who Could Get Waived, Potential Rule Changes, Austin Riley, And Hector Neris – listen here
- The White Sox Fire Their Manager, Víctor Robles Extended, And The Marlins’ Front Office – listen here
- Fallout From The Trade Deadline And Mike Trout Injured Again – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Reds Acquire David Buchanan From Phillies
The Phillies traded minor league right-hander David Buchanan to the Reds for cash, tweets Matt Gelb of the Athletic. Cincinnati assigned the 35-year-old to Triple-A Louisville.
Buchanan is eligible to be traded after the deadline because he has not been on a 40-man roster all season. He signed a minor league contract with Philadelphia in February. Outside of a one-off start in High-A, he has pitched the entire season with Philadelphia’s top farm team in Lehigh Valley. He started 16 of 22 appearances with the IronPigs, working to a 4.82 ERA across 102 2/3 innings. His 17.5% strikeout percentage is subpar, but he has kept his walk rate to a solid 7.4% clip.
A former 7th-round pick, Buchanan pitched with Philadelphia at the major league level between 2014-15. He had a solid 3.75 ERA as a rookie before allowing nearly seven earned runs per nine in year two. After spending the ’16 campaign in Triple-A, Buchanan spent seven seasons in Asia. He played three seasons in Japan before a four-year run with the Samsung Lions in Korea.
Cincinnati’s rotation has been pummeled by injury. They’ve lost each of Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo to the injured list in the past few weeks, while Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson have been out of action for months. Buchanan provides a strike-throwing depth arm who has eaten a solid number of innings in Triple-A this season. The Reds’ series of injuries gives him a better chance to pitch his way to the majors for the first time in nearly a decade than he would have had in Philadelphia.
Reds Place Nick Lodolo On Injured List
The Reds announced that left-hander Nick Lodolo has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 24, due to a left middle finger sprain. Right-hander Casey Legumina was recalled in a corresponding move.
To this point, the Reds haven’t provided any information about how long Lodolo is expected to be out, but it’s a frustrating development nonetheless. This will be the lefty’s fourth IL stint of the season, as he has already made separate trips there due to left calf tenosynovitis, a left groin strain and a left finger blister.
This latest IL trip, whether it proves to be significant or mild, adds to a lengthy injury problem for both player and team. Lodolo also missed most of last year due to various problems in his left leg, only making seven starts on the campaign. He had an encouraging debut season in 2022, posting a 3.66 ERA over 19 starts. But the past two campaigns have been mostly defined by his lack of health and he has posted a 5.11 ERA while healthy enough to take the mound. Despite all the missed time, Lodolo will reach three years of service at season’s end and qualify for arbitration, though the injury absences will cut into his earning power.
Lodolo’s woes have been part of a constellation of injury problems for the Reds this year. Much of their projected lineup has spent at least some time out of action and the pitching staff is currently in really rough shape. Lodolo joins Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott on the IL, putting three of the clubs best starters on ice. That’s in addition to guys like Graham Ashcraft, Brandon Williamson and Christian Roa, who are also on the IL.
The Reds also traded Frankie Montas prior to the deadline, so their rotation looks far different than it did a month ago. Jakob Junis, acquired in the Montas deal, is stepping in to start today’s game. He has started in the past but hasn’t thrown more than 2 1/3 innings in any outing during the past month. He might have some workload limitations today but could perhaps be stretched out to help the Reds finish the season.
The rest of the rotation consists of Nick Martinez, Carson Spiers and Julian Aguiar. Martinez and Spiers have been in swing roles this year but have been needed in the rotation due to the aforementioned issues. Aguiar is a rookie with just two major league starts under his belt.
The Reds were off yesterday but today are starting a stretch of playing eight games in seven days, so they will need a fifth starter or some bulk innings at some point. Williamson is starting a rehab assignment but will presumably need some time to ramp up. Lyon Richardson and Connor Phillips are on the 40-man roster but neither has been posting great results this year. Justus Sheffield is around in a non-roster role but isn’t pitching well either. Prospect Rhett Lowder has just one start above Double-A and isn’t yet on the 40-man roster.
It’s a less than ideal situation for the stretch of a disappointing season. The Reds came into the year with postseason aspirations but the massive slate of injuries have handcuffed them all year. They are currently eight games out of a playoff spot and it will be very difficult to climb back into the picture with so many of their starters out of action.
Orioles Claim Brooks Kriske, Designate Nick Vespi For Assignment
The Orioles announced that right-hander Brooks Kriske was claimed off waivers from the Reds, then assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. As reported by MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (X link) earlier today, left-hander Nick Vespi was designated for assignment to create an opening on Baltimore’s 40-man roster.
Cincinnati designed Kriske for assignment earlier this week, and the righty now returns to one of his former teams. Kriske posted a 12.27 ERA over four games and 3 2/3 innings with the Orioles in 2021, before the O’s released him following the season so Kriske could sign with the Yokohama BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball. After his season in Japan, Kriske returned to North America on a minors deal with the Royals and delivered a 4.05 ERA in 6 2/3 innings in 2023, before heading back to NPB for a brief stint with the Seibu Lions.
Kriske then signed a minors deal with the Reds this past winter, and didn’t see any big league action despite a brief stint on Cincinnati’s active roster back in June. He had a 3.10 ERA and eye-opening 36.7% strikeout rate in 49 1/3 innings at Triple-A Louisville, albeit with the red flags of an inflated 14.8% walk rate and a very favorable .205 BABIP. The numbers essentially continue the story of Kriske’s career, as the 30-year-old has long struggled with his control while also missing a lot of bats.
The resume was intriguing enough for the Orioles to bring Kriske in for another look in the organization, though if he does get called up to the majors, Kriske lacks some flexibility since he is out of minor league options. Vespi is in his final option year, and he has been recalled and demoted from Triple-A the maximum five times this season, which undoubtedly factored into Baltimore’s decision to send the southpaw to the DFA wire.
Vespi has frequently been shuttled back and forth between Baltimore and Norfolk during his three Major League seasons, as the O’s haven’t felt compelled to give Vespi an extended look despite some pretty solid performance. Vespi has a 3.88 ERA over his 53 1/3 career MLB innings, including a 2.92 ERA in 12 1/3 frames in 2024. In something of the inverse of Kriske, Vespi is a control specialist (5.9% walk rate in the bigs) who doesn’t record many strikeouts (20.9K%).
Strangely, Vespi’s walk rate has gone through the roof during his time at Triple-A this season, with a huge 15.9% walk rate contributing to his 7.71 ERA over 37 1/3 innings in Norfolk. Both the walk rate and the ERA seem like outliers against Vespi’s otherwise solid career record at the Triple-A level, and other teams might not be dissuaded from putting in a waiver claim to obtain his rights.
Hunter Greene Avoids UCL Damage, MRI Reveals Elbow Inflammation
When Reds ace Hunter Greene was first placed on the 15-day injured list last week, there was some optimism that the right-hander would only require a minimum stay on the shelf to combat the issue. Unfortunately, that hope has faded in the aftermath of an MRI on Greene’s elbow that revealed inflammation. As noted by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the club received three medical opinions on Greene’s arm confirmed that the ace’s UCL has not been damaged in what Bell and Greene have described as a “best case scenario.”
While that’s certainly heartening news for Reds fans, Wittenmyer notes that Greene now appears to be ticketed for an absence that will extend well past the minimum 15 days previously hoped for, as the right-hander is now not expected to resume throwing until the inflammation dissipates, which Greene suggested could take as long as two weeks. With just over a month left to go in the regular season and Cincinnati’s playoff hopes this season remote at best, that timeline could call into question whether or not the hard-throwing righty will be able to return this year. As relayed by Wittenmyer, Greene was noncommittal about his timeline for return, though he did note he hopes to pitch again this year:
“I have no clue,” Greene said when asked when he’ll be able to return. “I’d like to be able to finish with two or three more starts, but I’ve got to see how I feel in a few days or a week.”
While it does not currently appear guaranteed that Greene will be able to return to the big league mound this season, it certainly can’t be ruled out. If Greene remains shut down for two weeks, he would resume throwing in early September. It’s at least feasible to imagine that he would be able to go out for a brief rehab assignment in the middle of the month before making a couple of starts in the final weeks of the season, though such a timeline would likely require no setbacks and a somewhat limited pitch count for Greene upon his return.
Regardless of whether or note Greene is able to make it back to the big leagues this year, the fact that his UCL remains undamaged and he figures to be fully healthy for Spring Training 2025 is surely heartening news for the Reds. Even if he doesn’t throw another pitch for the club this year, Greene’s 2024 season has been an unequivocal success as he’s posted a dominant 2.83 ERA in 143 1/3 innings across 24 starts. While Greene’s 9.1% walk rate and batted ball profiles have left advanced stats somewhat less impressed with his work this year (3.41 FIP, 3.75 SIERA, 4.16 xFIP), his excellent results are backed up by premium stuff that’s allowed him to post a 27.8% strikeout rate this year.
With Greene’s breakout allowing the Reds to pencil a bonafide top-of-the-rotation arm into their rotation next season, it’s not hard to imagine much brighter days ahead in Cincinnati despite their lackluster 63-67 record this season. After all, the club figures to benefit not only from the dynamic duo of Greene and Elly De La Cruz but also returns to action from key youngsters like Matt McLain and Christian Encarnacion-Strand who were hampered by injuries this year.
Reds Select Casey Kelly
The Reds have selected the contract of right-hander Casey Kelly, per a club announcement. Right-hander Alan Busenitz was designated for assignment to make room for Kelly on the club’s 40-man and active rosters.
Kelly, 34, was a first-round pick in the 2008 draft and a consensus top-100 prospect early in his pro career with the Red Sox. Kelly was packaged with Anthony Rizzo in the deal that brought Adrian Gonzalez to Boston from San Diego, and Kelly’s pedigree as a top pitching prospect helped him to reach the majors during just his second year in the Padres organization. That big league debut left much to be desired, as Kelly pitched to a lackluster 6.21 ERA in 29 innings of work across six starts with the Padres during the 2012 season. Tommy John surgery wiped out Kelly’s entire 2013 season, and he wouldn’t make it back to the majors until 2015 when he surrendered 13 runs (10 earned) in just 11 1/3 innings of work across three appearances.
That ended Kelly’s Padres tenure, and while he briefly found a role with the Braves as a multi-inning reliever during the 2016 season, he wouldn’t find success in the majors until 2018, six years after his big league debut. In San Francisco, Kelly did quite well while swinging between the rotation and bullpen, but even that success was short-lived as his 3.04 ERA spanned just seven appearances and 23 2/3 innings of work. Kelly’s brief stint with the Giants evidently earned him some attention overseas, however, as after parting ways with the Giants he went on to pitch in parts of six seasons for the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins.
In Korea, Kelly was a rotation stalwart who made between 27 and 30 starts each year from 2019 to 2023 while never posting an ERA higher than 3.83. Kelly reportedly received some stateside interest this past offseason but chose to remain overseas, though his sixth season in the KBO did not go particularly well as he struggled to a 4.51 ERA in 19 starts before being cut loose last month. That led him back to affiliated ball, where he signed a minor league deal with the Reds and was assigned to Triple-A Louisville. Kelly was managed by his father, Pat Kelly, while pitching for Louisville and performed decently in two starts, with a 4.50 ERA despite a strikeout rate of just 5.6%. Recent injuries to Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott have now opened the door for Kelly to make his first big league appearance since 2018, and the journeyman figures to provide Cincinnati with multi-inning relief depth out of the bullpen while the club utilizes a patchwork rotation featuring Julian Aguilar and Carson Spiers alongside Nick Lodolo and Nick Martinez.
Making way for Kelly on the 40-man and active rosters is Busenitz, who departs the club after making just one appearance in the majors this year. In a disastrous relief outing for the Reds yesterday, the right-hander surrendered four runs (three of which were earned) on four hits while failing to strike out a batter in his single inning of work. Busenitz also pitched for the Reds last year and did quite well in a limited role with a 2.57 ERA and 2.26 FIP across seven frames. Busenitz’s time with the Reds was his first taste of big league action in nearly half a decade, as he spent four seasons pitching for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball from 2019 to 2022. The majority of Busenitz’s limited big league experience came prior to his time overseas, when he pitched to a middling 4.58 ERA in 51 appearances across the 2017 and ’18 seasons in Minnesota.