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Casey Legumina

Reds Select Michael Mariot

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The Reds announced that they have recalled right-hander Casey Legumina and selected the contract of righty Michael Mariot. In corresponding moves, righty Brett Kennedy was optioned to Triple-A while righty Lyon Richardson was returned to Triple-A. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster.

Mariot, 34, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2016. The Reds signed him to a minor league deal in June and selected him to the big league roster in July, though he was designated for assignment a day later without getting into a game. He cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment at that time, which now leads to his contract being selected a second time this year.

The Reds were already dealing with a large number of injuries but a recent COVID outbreak has exacerbated the issue, sending multiple pitchers to the injured list. That has required an almost-daily roster churn as they keep cycling fresh arms into the mix, with Mariot the latest to get the call.

He made 44 appearances in the big leagues back in the 2014 to 2016 period but hasn’t been back since, bouncing around on various minor league deals while also spending time in the Mexican League and Chinese Professional Baseball in Taiwan. He began 2023 with the Cleburne Railroaders of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball, posting a 5.06 ERA there but with 29 strikeouts and just five walks in 26 2/3 innings.

That led to a minor league deal with the Reds and he has since thrown 37 2/3 innings over nine appearances for Louisville with a 6.93 ERA and 14.3% strikeout rate. The Reds are going the opener route today, with reliever Tejay Antone scheduled to start, but Mariot could perhaps log some bulk innings in the middle of the game.

As for Richardson, the fact that he has been “returned” to Triple-A and not optioned is worth noting. He was called up as a COVID replacement player recently and has now been sent back down. Optioned pitchers normally cannot be recalled for another 15 days but that won’t apply in this unique situation. He is listed as Wednesday’s starter and should be added back to the roster in short order.

Reds Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Silvino Bracho from Triple-A Louisville and recalled fellow righty Alan Busenitz. Cincinnati optioned outfielder Stuart Fairchild to Louisville and placed righty Casey Legumina on the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder issue in a pair of corresponding 26-man roster moves. The Reds already had a vacant spot on the 40-man roster for Bracho after designating Wil Myers for assignment yesterday.

Bracho returns to the Reds for a second time in 2023, having already appeared in four games earlier this season. He pitched 5 1/3 innings in that time, yielding three runs on a pair of hits and five walks with four strikeouts. The 30-year-old righty (31 next month) has had a better run in Louisville, posting a 4.22 ERA with a 23.9% strikeout rate and much-improved 9.1%  walk rate in 21 1/3 frames. Bracho has appeared in parts of seven big league seasons, totaling 99 1/3 innings of relief work with a 4.89 ERA and strikeout/walk rates that match his 2023 rates in Triple-A.

The 32-year-old Busenitz resurfaced in the Majors as a member of the Reds this year — his first big league work since a 2017-18 run with the Twins. He’s allowed a pair of runs on seven hits and a walk with three punchouts through four frames thus far in the big leagues. He owns a sharp 1.96 ERA in 23 Triple-A frames, though that mark is accompanied by a slightly below-average 21% strikeout rate and a bloated 12% walk rate.

After his run with the Twins, Busenitz spent the 2019-22 seasons pitching with the Rakuten Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he worked to a 2.83 ERA and picked up 18 saves through 155 2/3 innings of bullpen work. He returned to North American ball this past offseason when he signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati. Overall, in addition to that strong run in NPB, Busenitz has a 4.57 ERA in 61 big league innings and a 2.80 ERA in 119 Triple-A frames.

Legumina, 26, was acquired from the Twins in the trade that sent Kyle Farmer to Minnesota back in November. He’s pitched to a 4.22 ERA with an outstanding 13-to-1 K/BB ratio in 10 2/3 innings with Louisville but been rocked for a 6.17 ERA with an 11-to-8 K/BB mark in 11 2/3 innings at the MLB level. He’s now missed time this season due to ankle and shoulder problems. Cincinnati did provide a formal diagnosis on Legumina’s current shoulder injury, describing the issue only as “right shoulder pain.”

The 27-year-old Fairchild has batted .237/.331/.404 in 184 plate appearances while logging time in all three outfield spots this season. The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans tweets that the move to option Fairchild will give the Reds some short-term bullpen help before a reliever is likely sent out this weekend to accommodate righty Graham Ashcraft’s return from the injured list.

Reds Place Nick Lodolo On 15-Day IL

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The Reds announced a flurry of roster moves this morning, as the club placed left-hander Nick Lodolo and right-hander Casey Legumina on the 15-day injured list and optioned right-hander Levi Stoudt to Triple-A Louisville. To replace the aforementioned trio on the roster, the club recalled right-hander Kevin Herget while selecting the contracts of right-handers Alan Busenitz and Silvino Bracho. To clear 40-man roster space for Busenitz and Bracho, the club has transferred right-hander Connor Overton and left-hander Reiver Sanmartin to the 60-day IL. As noted by Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Lodolo is expected to miss at least four weeks of action.

The most significant news here is that regarding Lodolo, as the 25-year-old lefty will now miss at least a month of the 2023 campaign. A long time top prospect for the Reds, Lodolo was as good as advertised in his first taste of big league action last year, pitching to a solid 3.66 ERA (123 ERA+) and a 3.90 FIP over 103 1/3 innings of work across 19 starts. Unfortunately for the Reds, Lodolo wasn’t able to carry that success over into the 2023 campaign, as the lefty has posted an ugly 6.29 ERA and 5.82 FIP in seven starts this season. Lodolo figures to rest his ailing calf and get healthy in order to try and get his season on track when he returns from the IL this summer.

With Lodolo out of action for the time being, the Reds have just three regular starters in their rotation: Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, and Luke Weaver. With no announced starter for Tuesday’s game against Colorado, the club could look to add another starter to the roster in the coming days, though with ten relievers on the roster at the moment, a bullpen game is another option the club could explore.

Joining Lodolo in exiting the active roster is a pair of rookies: Legumina, 25, heads to the IL while Stoudt, 25, heads to Triple-A. Legumina has posted a decent 4.35 ERA in 10 1/3 innings of work out of the Reds bullpen this season, while Stoudt struggled to a 10.29 ERA in seven innings over two appearances, including one start.

Replacing the trio on the roster is a group of right-handers. Herget, 32, impressed earlier this season in 10 2/3 innings of work out of the Reds bullpen, posting a 1.69 ERA in five appearances. The 32-year-old Busenitz, meanwhile, has yet to make an appearance in a Reds uniform. The righty sports a 4.58 ERA in 57 innings of work in the big leagues, all of which came as a member of the Twins across the 2017 and 2018 campaigns. Since then, he’s spent four seasons pitching in Japan, with a 2.83 ERA in 155 2/3 innings of work. He landed a minor league deal with Cincinnati in December, and has impressed against Triple-A pitching so far, with a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings.

The 30-year-old Bracho, meanwhile, is now poised to make the first appearance of his seventh season in the major leagues. The righty reliever made his debut in 2015 with the Diamondbacks, and spent most of his career with Arizona before joining the Braves in 2022. Bracho was non-tendered by the club this past offseason and signed a minor league deal with the Reds during Spring Training. Overall, Bracho has a career 4.88 ERA in 94 innings at the big league level.

Reds Place Connor Overton On 15-Day IL

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The Reds have placed right hander Connor Overton on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain, the team announced. They have recalled right hander Casey Legumina from Triple-A to take his place on the active roster.

It’s been a rough start to the season for the 29-year-old, giving up 14 earned runs in 11 innings over three starts. It’s an unfortunate development for a player who impressed to the tune of a 2.73 ERA over 33 innings late last year for the Reds. Now it seems the issue with his elbow may have been behind his struggles to start the year.

In his place, the Reds will call on Legumina to make his big league debut. Originally drafted by the Twins in the eighth round back in 2019, Legumina came over to the Reds in the Kyle Farmer deal this winter. The Twins had added him to their 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft, but he’s yet to appear in the big leagues.

Legumina’s been working in relief at Triple-A Louisville, putting up a 1.59 ERA in 5 2/3 innings. Even though he’s replacing a starter on the roster, it’s likely that Legumina will continue in a relief role with the Reds. Luke Weaver is set to come off the IL to take what would have been Overton’s next start, so the Reds can use an extra spot in their bullpen in the meantime.

Twins Acquire Kyle Farmer

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The Reds and Twins agreed on a Friday evening trade sending infielder Kyle Farmer from Cincinnati to Minnesota. The Reds landed right-hander Casey Legumina in return. Farmer is second year arbitration-eligible, and is projected to make $5.9MM, according to MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’ predictions.

Farmer, 32, turned in a solid, if unspectacular, season for the Reds, batting .255/.315/.386 with 14 home runs. That was good for a wRC+ of 90, or ten percent worse than league average. He split time between short (98 games) and third base (36 games), grading out better at third where he was worth two Outs Above Average, against -3 at shortstop.

Originally drafted as a catcher in the eighth round of the 2013 draft by the Dodgers, Farmer made his debut 2017 with L.A. He’d go on to make 97 plate appearances over the next two seasons, working mostly at catcher and third base, before going to the Reds as part of a blockbuster deal involving Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood.

The Reds used him in 15 games at catcher in 2019, but he mostly bounced around the infield positions and that wound up being the last of his time behind the plate. He’d spent the next couple of seasons as a utility infielder before winning their starting shortstop job for 2021. While he turned in a .263/.316/.416 line with 16 home runs that year, he did play some above-average defense, earning six Outs Above Average.

While Farmer’s numbers have never really stood out, he’s generally been a sound contributor and has been worth 3.3 fWAR across 292 games over the past couple of seasons. He can be controlled via arbitration for two more seasons, so he won’t reach free agency until after the 2024 campaign.

It’s the second major trade of the day for the Twins, after they shipped out Gio Urshela and his projected $9.2MM salary. Urshela was a bit more valuable for the Twins last year (2.4 fWAR), but Farmer offers a saving of around $3MM, and greater positional flexibility. It’s entirely possible Farmer returns to a utility role in Minnesota. With Urshela out the door, the Twins could well go with Jose Miranda and Luis Arraez at the corners, with Jorge Polanco at second. That’d mean either Farmer or an external addition at shortstop, but regardless, the arrival of Farmer gives them a bit more flexibility there.

Legumina started 2022 at High-A but spent much of the season at Double-A. He struggled as a starter, making 16 starts this year with a 5.23 ERA, striking out 8.5 batters per nine innings. As a result of his struggles, the Twins moved him to the bullpen and he immediately stood out. There, the 25-year-old threw 22 1/3 innings of 3.57 ERA, with his strikeouts rising to 12.7 per nine innings. Legumina has a four pitch mix, combining a mid-90s fastball with a slider, changeup and curveball.

The eighth round draft pick from 2019 was added to the Twins 40-man roster a few days ago ahead of the Rule 5 draft protection deadline, so he’ll take a spot on the Reds 40-man moving forward as well.

Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes of the Athletic first reported the Reds and Twins were in agreement on a trade sending Farmer to Minnesota. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic was first to report Cincinnati would receive Legumina in return.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Twins Select Four Players

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The Twins announced this evening they’ve selected four players onto the 40-man roster to prevent them from being eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Joining the roster are infielder Edouard Julien and pitchers Matt Canterino, Brent Headrick and Casey Legumina.

Julien was an 18th-round draftee out of Auburn in 2019. He’s hit very well in the minor leagues the last two years, including a .300/.441/.490 line with 17 home runs across 508 plate appearances at Double-A Wichita. The Quebec native walked in a stellar 19.3% of his plate appearances against a manageable 24.6% strikeout rate. He’s played each of second, third and first base and gotten some time in left field. Better suited for a corner, Julien’s a bat-first utility prospect. He checked in 10th on Minnesota’s midseason farm rankings at Baseball America.

Canterino went in the second round of the same draft coming out of Rice. The right-hander has an intriguing four-pitch mix but hasn’t logged many professional innings after spending time on the injured list in each of his seasons. He tossed 34 1/3 innings through 11 outings with Wichita this year, posting a 1.83 ERA with a huge 34.7% strikeout rate but walking 15.3% of opponents.

Headrick, 25 next month, was a ninth-rounder in 2019 from Illinois State. The 6’6″ left-hander split the year between High-A Cedar Rapids and Wichita. He combined for a 3.32 ERA through 108 1/3 innings, fanning just under 31% of opponents with only a 5.7% walk percentage.

Legumina was an 8th-rounder in that class out of Gonzaga. The 25-year-old joined Headrick in splitting his season between Cedar Rapids and Wichita. He posted a 4.80 ERA while working primarily in multi-inning relief. Legumina struck out roughly 24% of opponents with a 9.4% walk percentage.

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