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Jul. 7—At the start of spring training, the talk of camp in Goodyear, Arizona, was the incredible starting pitching battle that was about to take place between Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns for the final spot in the rotation. Lowder had a 1.17 ERA through his first six big league starts, and Burns was coming off a rookie season where he looked like one of the most talented young pitchers in baseball.
That rotation battle ended up not mattering at the time in spring because Hunter Greene (elbow) and Nick Lodolo (blister) suffered injuries that led to them starting the season on the injured list.
Now, five months later, the Reds' starting pitching depth is effectively back to full strength.
A lot changed between the start of February and July 4, when Greene was activated from the injured list. Burns has delivered an All-Star season.
"He's continuing to dominate and just trust himself," Greene said about Burns. "I'm happy for him. He deserves it. It's definitely not going to be his last All-Star Game."
With Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer and Nick Lodolo also healthy, the Reds were back to having a crunch at the back of their rotation.
As a result, at least until the All-Star break, Lowder will pitch out of the bullpen.
"It doesn't really matter to me, I just want to help the team win and pitch as much as I can," Lowder said. "I knew Hunter was coming back. I figured something would be done ... The end goal is to help this team win games. Getting Hunter back and me providing length out of the bullpen, hopefully we can do that."
Lowder has a 5.07 ERA through 14 big league games this year, but he has looked better than the numbers show. He's also a recent first-round pick going through his official rookie season.
Moving him to the bullpen for the next couple of weeks allows the Reds to have their best 13 pitchers on the active roster. It's a win-now move that they'll reevaluate after the break.
"When we get to next Sunday, we'll see where we're at and map it out from there," said Reds manager Terry Francona. "We're not trying to make Lowder a bullpen guy. We're trying to figure out ways to protect our staff, win games and get through this next week."
Lowder made his bullpen debut in Saturday's 8-5 loss to the Orioles. Pitching on three days rest, Lowder saved a taxed Reds' bullpen with three innings of relief. That prevented Francona from having to pitch the Reds' top relievers to close out that game.
"He was on short rest," Francona said. "I wasn't all that comfortable with it. We're kind of up against it in our bullpen right now. He was outstanding."
The next day, the Reds used all of their top relievers to close out a 3-2 win over the Orioles. After the game, reliever Emilio Pagán credited Lowder for saving the bullpen with his performance on Saturday.
Reds starting pitcher Brandon Williamson has been out since April with a shoulder injury, and he recently suffered a finger injury as he works out in Arizona that will set him back about 10 days. Williamson had begun throwing bullpen sessions.
With prospects Julian Aguiar and Jose Franco healthy in Triple-A, the Reds had the flexibility to keep Chase Petty in the bullpen going forward.
Petty, who had been a starting pitching prospect, was pressed into a long relief role in June and looked really comfortable. He lost his spot on the active big league roster when Greene returned, but the chance to pitch out of the bullpen in Triple-A will be good for Petty's development.
"We are transitioning him to the bullpen, and we want to be able to do it in a way that's fair to him," Francona said. "Throwing back-to-back days and things like that that we haven't done here. We think he can help us."
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That rotation battle ended up not mattering at the time in spring because Hunter Greene (elbow) and Nick Lodolo (blister) suffered injuries that led to them starting the season on the injured list.
Now, five months later, the Reds' starting pitching depth is effectively back to full strength.
A lot changed between the start of February and July 4, when Greene was activated from the injured list. Burns has delivered an All-Star season.
"He's continuing to dominate and just trust himself," Greene said about Burns. "I'm happy for him. He deserves it. It's definitely not going to be his last All-Star Game."
With Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer and Nick Lodolo also healthy, the Reds were back to having a crunch at the back of their rotation.
As a result, at least until the All-Star break, Lowder will pitch out of the bullpen.
"It doesn't really matter to me, I just want to help the team win and pitch as much as I can," Lowder said. "I knew Hunter was coming back. I figured something would be done ... The end goal is to help this team win games. Getting Hunter back and me providing length out of the bullpen, hopefully we can do that."
Lowder has a 5.07 ERA through 14 big league games this year, but he has looked better than the numbers show. He's also a recent first-round pick going through his official rookie season.
Moving him to the bullpen for the next couple of weeks allows the Reds to have their best 13 pitchers on the active roster. It's a win-now move that they'll reevaluate after the break.
"When we get to next Sunday, we'll see where we're at and map it out from there," said Reds manager Terry Francona. "We're not trying to make Lowder a bullpen guy. We're trying to figure out ways to protect our staff, win games and get through this next week."
Lowder made his bullpen debut in Saturday's 8-5 loss to the Orioles. Pitching on three days rest, Lowder saved a taxed Reds' bullpen with three innings of relief. That prevented Francona from having to pitch the Reds' top relievers to close out that game.
"He was on short rest," Francona said. "I wasn't all that comfortable with it. We're kind of up against it in our bullpen right now. He was outstanding."
The next day, the Reds used all of their top relievers to close out a 3-2 win over the Orioles. After the game, reliever Emilio Pagán credited Lowder for saving the bullpen with his performance on Saturday.
Reds starting pitcher Brandon Williamson has been out since April with a shoulder injury, and he recently suffered a finger injury as he works out in Arizona that will set him back about 10 days. Williamson had begun throwing bullpen sessions.
With prospects Julian Aguiar and Jose Franco healthy in Triple-A, the Reds had the flexibility to keep Chase Petty in the bullpen going forward.
Petty, who had been a starting pitching prospect, was pressed into a long relief role in June and looked really comfortable. He lost his spot on the active big league roster when Greene returned, but the chance to pitch out of the bullpen in Triple-A will be good for Petty's development.
"We are transitioning him to the bullpen, and we want to be able to do it in a way that's fair to him," Francona said. "Throwing back-to-back days and things like that that we haven't done here. We think he can help us."
Continue reading...
