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Casey Legumina

Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller

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TODAY: The M’s officially announced Young’s selection and Miller’s reinstatement from the IL. Right-hander Casey Legumina and infielder Leo Rivas were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding 26-man roster moves, and righty Will Klein was designated for assignment to open up space for Young on the 40-man roster.

Klein made his MLB debut in 2024 and posted an 11.05 ERA over 7 1/3 combined innings with the Royals and Athletics.  Sent to the A’s as part of the deadline deal that brought Lucas Erceg to Kansas City, Klein was then flipped to Seattle in another trade this past January.

MAY 30: The Mariners will promote top infield prospect Cole Young this weekend, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. He is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the team will need to make a move in that regard. They’ll also need to create active roster space for Young and starting pitcher Bryce Miller, who’ll be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Twins.

A Pittsburgh-area native, Young signed with Seattle out of high school in 2022. He received a $3.3MM bonus as the 21st overall pick. Scouting reports praised a potential plus hit tool and ability to play somewhere up the middle. While Young doesn’t have huge power projection in a 5’11” frame, he was viewed as a very polished player for his age.

That has been borne out in his systematic progression through the minors. He reached base at a .399 clip between two A-ball levels in his first full professional season. Young spent all of last season in Double-A, batting .271/.369/.390 as a 20-year-old in a tough league for hitters. The M’s bumped him to the more favorable Pacific Coast League this season. Young has taken to it well, running a .278/.391/.463 slash with more walks than strikeouts in his first look at Triple-A pitching.

The lefty-hitting Young actually began his Triple-A career mired in a slump. He hit .200 without a home run over 25 games in April. He’s been on an absolute tear since the calendar flipped. Young has raked at a .370/.466/.680 clip over 118 plate appearances in May. He has connected on five home runs, 10 doubles and three triples among a total of 37 hits. He has added another 15 walks while striking out all of eight times.

Young couldn’t have done more this month to force his way to the big leagues. He has divided his time evenly between shortstop and second base this season. Baseball America wrote over the offseason that he’s likely better suited for second base because of average arm strength. That figures to be his long-term home in Seattle. They’re committed to J.P. Crawford at shortstop. The path to playing time at the keystone is much more open. Ryan Bliss will miss most of the season recovering from biceps surgery. Miles Mastrobuoni and Dylan Moore have split the second base work over the past few weeks.

Moore is having a strong year, though his bat has tailed off following a huge April. He’s a right-handed hitter with a long track record of producing against lefty pitching. Moore figures to take some starts at second base against southpaws, but he’s versatile enough that it doesn’t need to be a strict platoon. Moore can spell Leody Taveras in right field or play regularly at third base over rookie Ben Williamson, who is hitting .246/.278/.297 through his first 38 games. Mastrobuoni, acquired in an offseason DFA trade with the Cubs, carries a .221/.306/.284 line through 111 plate appearances. He’ll be bumped to a utility role if not optioned to Triple-A.

Young was a consensus Top 100 prospect over the offseason. He meets the criteria for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. If he plays well enough to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year balloting, he could earn a full year of service time. A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson seems as if he’ll run away with the award, but the runner-up spot is still there for the taking. That would not earn the Mariners any kind of draft compensation, which only applies if the team carries a top prospect in the big leagues for at least 172 days.

If he doesn’t earn the top-two Rookie of the Year finish, Young will fall short of a full service year and remain under club control for at least six seasons beyond this one. He’d be well-positioned to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2027-28 offseason if he’s in the big leagues for good.

Mariners Release Drew Pomeranz, Jesse Hahn

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Jesse Hahn and left-hander Drew Pomeranz were both released from their minor league contracts.  Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times notes that both pitchers had enough service time to request releases if they weren’t going to make the Mariners’ Opening Day roster.

Pomeranz and Hahn have a combined 18 years of MLB experience between them, but the two veterans haven’t appeared in a big league game since the 2021 season.  Hahn didn’t pitch whatsoever in 2022 or 2023 while apparently recovering from a shoulder injury, but he resurfaced to toss 50 1/3 minor league innings with the Triple-A affiliates of the Dodgers and Mariners in 2024.  Hahn’s combined 4.29 ERA and 25.1% strikeout rate were respectable enough, but he also had an outsized 17.2% walk rate.

Injuries have dominated Pomeranz’s career narrative, and a variety of health issues (most notably a flexor tendon surgery) limited him to 19 1/3 minor league innings over the last three seasons.  He did sign a Major League deal with the Giants last May but didn’t see any action at the MLB level, as he was designated for assignment and then outrighted off the 40-man within a few days of joining the team.  An All-Star starter back in 2016, Pomeranz seemed to be on the verge of re-inventing himself as an elite relief arm, leading to a four-year, $34MM deal from the Padres in the 2019-20 offseason.  Unfortunately, continued health problems kept Pomeranz from living up that salary, even though he had a 1.62 ERA over the 44 1/3 innings he was able to pitch in 2020-21.

Neither Hahn or Pomeranz posted particularly good Cactus League numbers, leaving the Mariners looking elsewhere for bullpen help.  Right-hander Casey Legumina was also optioned to Triple-A, so Carlos Vargas will break camp as the final member of Seattle’s bullpen.  Divish observes that Vargas’ out-of-options status might’ve helped the team’s decision, as Legumina has options remaining and can be more easily shuttled on and off the roster.

Mariners Acquire Casey Legumina, Designate Jhonathan Díaz

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The Mariners announced that they have acquired right-hander Casey Legumina from the Reds. Cincinnati, who designated Legumina for assignment last week when they signed Austin Hays, receives cash considerations in return. The M’s have designated left-hander Jhonathan Díaz for assignment in a corresponding move.

Legumina, 28 in June, has a limited major league track record to this point. He threw a combined 22 innings for the Reds over the past two seasons, allowing 17 earned runs for an unpleasant 6.75 ERA. His 16.7% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate in that time have both been below average, though his 56.4% ground ball rate has been strong.

The M’s are probably more interested in his larger sample of minor league work. Over the past four years, he has logged 226 2/3 innings on the farm with a 4.05 ERA, 26% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. He did a decent amount of starting earlier in his career but has primarily been working in relief over the past two seasons.

He still has one option year remaining and less than a full season of service time. That means he can be shuttled between the majors and the minors pretty freely for one more year and can also be cheaply retained well into the future if he continues to hang onto a roster spot. The M’s apparently had enough interest in Legumina as a depth arm that they sent some cash to the Reds in order to skip the waiver line.

Díaz, 28, also has a small big league résumé. He has thrown 45 innings in the majors, scattered across four different seasons. He has a 4.80 ERA, 15% strikeout rate, 12.6% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate.

Naturally, the minor league numbers are better, and in a larger sample. Over the past four years, he has thrown 328 innings on the farm, most of that coming in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has a 4.42 ERA in that time, along with a 23.6% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and grounders on about half of the balls in play he allowed.

Díaz still has a couple of options and could perhaps appeal to a club looking for some affordable rotation depth. The M’s will have a maximum of one week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next for the lefty, though the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to happen in the next five days.

Reds Designate Casey Legumina For Assignment

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The Reds announced that right-hander Casey Legumina has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move to open a roster spot for outfielder Austin Hays, whose one-year deal is now official.

Legumina, 28 in June, has had a limited role with the Reds over the past two seasons. He logged a combined 22 innings over the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, allowing 17 earned runs. His 16.7% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate were both subpar marks but he did get ground balls on 56.4% of balls in play. As one would expect, his minor league work in that same timeframe has been better. He tossed 91 frames on the farm over the past two years with a 3.76 ERA. His 25.1% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate were both quite strong.

Despite the solid minor league numbers, the lack of results in the big leagues has seemingly cost Legumina his roster spot. The Reds will have one week of DFA limbo to figure out his fate, whether that’s a trade or something on the waiver wire. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.

Legumina still has one option year and less than a full season of service time. If a club is intrigued by his minor league results and acquires him somehow, he could give them some cheap depth with roster flexibility.

Reds Sign Austin Hays

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The Reds announced the signing of outfielder Austin Hays to a one-year deal. The MAS+ client is reportedly guaranteed $5MM. That takes the form of a $4MM salary for the upcoming season and a $1MM buyout on a $12MM mutual option for 2026. Hays can earn an additional $1MM via incentives. Right-hander Casey Legumina was designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Hays, 29, gives the Reds the right-handed-hitting complement they’ve been seeking for the lefty-swinging outfield group of TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley and Will Benson. He’s a career .277/.331/.469 hitter against left-handed pitching and has experience playing all three outfield spots — though he’s generally better suited for corner work than center field.

As recently as 2023, Hays was an All-Star in Baltimore. He had a down showing in the second half after a monster .314/.355/.498 first half of that season but still finished out the year with a hearty .275/.325/.444 batting line in 566 plate appearances.

The 2024 season, however, was an abject nightmare for Hays. He struggled immensely on the field, due to a pair of leg injuries (hamstring strain, calf strain) and, far more concerning, a kidney infection. As Rosenthal detailed earlier in the offseason, Hays described that kidney infection as “the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.” Upon discovering it, doctors told him he’d likely been suffering from the ill effects of that infection for weeks prior.

Hays told Rosenthal that his symptoms included nausea, lightheadedness, lower back pain, sluggish legs and even a “brain fog” that would at times cause him to lose focus and forget what he was talking about mid-conversation. Hays initially chalked some of the exhaustion, leg fatigue and back pain up to the rigors of a full season and the prior hamstring/calf strains still impacting him. As time wore on and his symptoms increased, it became clear something else was at play.

A healthy Hays could well be a boon to the Cincinnati outfield, particularly if he’s in line to face a large slate of left-handed pitching. The move from Baltimore to Cincinnati should favor him considerably, too. Camden Yards has become a wasteland for right-handed power hitters in recent years, following the team’s decision to alter the dimensions in left field. Since 2022, when the O’s initially altered their park and installed a towering wall in left field (often referred to as “Mount Wall-timore”), their stadium has been the third-worst in MLB for right-handed home runs, per Statcast, leading only Cleveland’s Progressive Field and Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, meanwhile, ranks as the third most-favorable park in MLB for right-handed home runs, by those same park factors.

Hays’ presence in Cincinnati could open up some more infield and/or DH at-bats for fellow righty Spencer Steer, who played primarily in the outfield last year. Steer is an infielder by trade, but his versatility was leveraged when the Reds’ infield became increasingly crowded.

The trade of Jonathan India and overwhelming struggles of Noelvi Marte last year have perhaps lent some extra clarity to the infield, however. There’s still some playing time to sort out this spring, but Steer could see time at the corners and DH alongside Jeimer Candelario, who also struggled in an injury-marred 2024 season, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who missed most of the year due to wrist surgery. Matt McLain (who missed most of the season due to shoulder surgery) and Elly De La Cruz are in line to serve as the primary second baseman and shortstop, respectively. Trade acquisition Gavin Lux could also see time at second base and in left field. Broadly speaking, the Reds’ lineup will feature quite a few moving parts for new skipper Terry Francona to juggle based on matchups, health and workload management.

Hays’ $5MM guarantee will push the Reds’ payroll just north of $110MM, marking an increase of about $10MM over their 2024 budget. Even an increase of that level looked questionable just weeks ago, but the team’s surprise agreement with Main Street Sports/FanDuel Sports Network (the rebranded Diamond Sports/Bally RSN provider) afforded president of baseball operations Nick Krall some additional resources to further build out the 2025 club. The Reds have also been tied to relief upgrades, Carlos Estevez most notably, but it’s not clear whether ownership’s budgetary preferences can accommodate both Hays and another bullpen arm — particularly one of Estevez’s caliber and likely asking price.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Hays and the Reds had agreed to a one-year, $5MM deal with $1MM in incentives. Jon Heyman of The New York Post had the salary breakdown and the mutual option.

Reds Place Sam Moll On 15-Day Injured List

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The Reds placed left-hander Sam Moll on the 15-day injured list today, and called up righty Casey Legumina from Triple-A Louisville in a corresponding move.  Moll is dealing with a left shoulder impingement, and it is “not likely” that he’ll return before the season is over, as the southpaw told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Moll has been trying to pitch through the injury for a few weeks, and the issue might even date back to last season, when Moll said he was also trying to pitch through some shoulder discomfort in order to contribute to a contending Reds team.  Coming into this season, Moll began the year on the 15-day injured list and didn’t make his season debut until April 23.

“I obviously don’t want it to snowball to what it did last offseason, where it screwed up my offseason as far as preparation and leading into obviously what I dealt with earlier this year,” Moll said.  It isn’t yet known if Moll will just need to rest his shoulder, or if some kind of procedure could be needed to address the problem.

Despite the lack of a proper ramp-up in the spring, Moll still delivered some quality innings out of Cincinnati’s bullpen.  If this is indeed it for his 2024 campaign, he’ll finish the season with a 3.35 ERA, 25% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate, and 46.9% grounder rate over 37 2/3 innings and 48 appearances.  Moll isn’t a particularly hard thrower, but his sinker and sweeper are plus pitches that induce a lot of soft contact.  Left-handed batters have only a .430 OPS in 63 plate appearances against Moll this year, and he has also been effective against righty swingers to the tune of a .719 OPS in 89 PA.

This solid 2024 season comes on the heels of the 0.73 ERA Moll posted in the 24 2/3 innings he pitched for the Reds in 2023 after Cincinnati acquired him from the A’s at the trade deadline.  A veteran of five MLB seasons, Moll will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter as he enters his age-33 season.  If no injury-related complications interfere with the Reds’ decision to tender Moll a contract, he’ll be in line for a nice raise to get him out of the minimum-salary range.

Reds Select Evan Kravetz

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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.

Reds Place Nick Lodolo On Injured List

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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.

Reds Select Julian Aguiar

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The Reds announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Julian Aguiar. Righty Casey Legumina was optioned to open an active roster spot. To get Aguiar onto the 40-man, the Reds recalled righty Christian Roa and placed him on the 60-day injured list with a right shoulder sprain.

Aguiar, 23, was a 12th-round selection of the Reds in the 2021 draft. In 2022, he tossed 96 1/3 innings, mostly at the Single-A level but also with a brief look at High-A. He allowed 3.46 earned runs per nine innings, struck out 27.6% of batters faced, limited walks to a 6.6% clip and got grounders on more than half of the balls that were put in play against him. Last year, he made 25 starts between High-A and Double-A. In his 125 innings, he posted a 2.95 ERA, 26.8% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and again got hitters to hit the ball into the ground about half the time.

Coming into 2024, Baseball America ranked him the #14 prospect in the Reds’ system. FanGraphs had him a bit higher, putting him at #7 in early April. BA highlights his pitch mix, describing it as consisting of a four-seamer, two-seamer, curveball, slider and changeup. FG doesn’t mention the two-seamer and also characterizes the slider and curveball as the same breaking ball, just shaped slightly differently, though they admit that this essentially leads to Aguiar having two different breaking balls even if they are the same speed.

Here in 2024, Aguiar has continued posting some decent numbers, though not quite as strong as previous years. He has thrown 116 1/3 innings over 22 starts between Double-A and Triple-A with a 3.79 ERA. His 6% walk rate still demonstrates good control but his 19.7% strikeout rate is well below his previous two seasons. His ground ball rate has also been just below 40% at both levels this year, a drop from what he was able to achieve at the lower levels.

The Reds have Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson on the 60-day injured list. The former has a right elbow strain and an uncertain timeline. The latter has a shoulder strain and could be nearing a rehab assignment, per Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer on X, but hasn’t pitched in the big leagues yet this year. Even if he is able to start a rehab assignment soon, he’ll likely need a few weeks of ramp-up to get into game shape. Righty Hunter Greene landed on the 15-day IL this weekend with some elbow soreness and the club seems optimistic he can return after roughly a minimum stint, but it’s still a big blow to the rotation mix given that he’s pitched well enough to be in the Cy Young conversation this year.

Amid those injuries, the rotation is down to a core duo of Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott, along with swingmen Carson Spiers and Nick Martinez. Now they will be adding the rookie Aguiar into the mix. The Reds are six games back of a playoff spot at this point and clearly have at least some hope of making the playoffs as they recently claimed infielder Amed Rosario off waivers. Rosario is a veteran on a one-year deal and has no future impact, so they wouldn’t have made that move if they had given up on the season.

Perhaps Aguiar will get a few turns through the rotation to see how his stuff plays against big league hitters, at least until Greene or Williamson are able to come off the IL. The club also has Lyon Richardson and Connor Phillips on the 40-man roster but Richardson has a 4.58 ERA and 13.4% walk rate in Triple-A this year. Phillips, meanwhile, has a ghastly ERA of 10.11 in his 14 minor league starts and hasn’t pitched in official game action since June. Non-roster options like Justus Sheffield, Connor Overton and Brett Kennedy are either injured, putting up poor numbers or both. The club has an off-day on August 26 but then has a double-header on August 30, meaning they don’t have a ton of leeway with their rotation at the moment.

As for Roa, 25, he was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He has been on optional assignment all year and still hasn’t made his major league debut. He last pitched August 10 and it appears this shoulder strain will end his season. Based on this transaction, he won’t be eligible to return until the middle of October. That’s not a pleasant outcome for him but the silver lining is that he’ll now get a bit of major league service time and pay while spending the rest of the season on the injured list.

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.

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