The Mariners announced Wednesday that they’ve traded minor league infielder Luis Chevalier to the Reds as the player to be named later in the April 16 swap that sent right-hander Riley O’Brien from Cincinnati to Seattle.
Chevalier, 20, has been assigned to the Reds’ affiliate in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League — the same level at which he spent the 2021 season. The 5’11”, 160-pound switch-hitter batted .221/.345/.329 with three homers, four doubles, a triple, two steals, a 20.8% strikeout rate and a 14.9% walk rate in 168 trips to the plate with the Mariners’ ACL affiliate last summer and will start there again before the Reds consider moving him up a level. Chevalier split his time in 2021 between second base (198 innings), shortstop (79 innings) and left field (48 innings). He wasn’t ranked among the Mariners’ top prospects, though that’s to be expected in a swap for a 27-year-old righty who’d been designated for assignment.
As for O’Brien, he’s tossed one scoreless inning with the M’s since the trade but has otherwise spent his time with the team’s Triple-A club in Tacoma. He’s turned in a strong 2.70 ERA through 10 frames there and fanned 14 hitters, but O’Brien has also demonstrated some worrying command issues (11 walks and a one batter thus far). O’Brien spent the bulk of his pro career with the Rays and Reds as a starting pitcher, but Seattle has opted to move him to the bullpen for now.
