The bullpen

[westofyou]

“Being a relief pitcher us such a roller coaster ride, you’re either a hero or the exact opposite, depending on what just happened. Everyone is coming down on your head, or else you’re almost a religious icon if you’ve won. Neither reaction is totally accurate.”

~ Dan Quisenberry

[MoneyInTheBank]

I wonder if all these high spin guys are having trouble with the cold weather

I know we are melting right now but my belief is Garrett, Sims and Doolittle will be fine over the course of the season. This game/series was just absolutely brutal

They are going to have to let starters go more than 5 if they want to survive the season

[Wonderful Monds]

Pretty much every reliever is a project, a failed starter who has to adjust to relieving. The list of established relievers who are decent for multiple years in a row is tiny.

Look over this list of FA this offseason. Very few are having good years this year, and the ones that are, you probably wouldn’t have guessed.

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-age...elief-pitcher/

Very few are having good years, so far. There’s a good chunk of decent pitchers on that list who have way more upside than the Bedrosians, Romanos, Fulmers, and De Leons we’re currently counting on to pitch the middle innings. I’m guessing a bunch of those guys will be just fine by years end.

I still think it was a massive blunder that they didn’t bring back Bradley, that’s one guy. Brad Hand got good money, but as you can tell from how the pen is cratering this team, it’s money well spent especially if they weren’t going to add to the rotation (or rest of the team for that matter.)

In terms of trade targets actual names, yeah I’m guessing most teams aren’t trying to trade yet. But if there is, I mentioned Givens earlier ITT, and the Rockies are awful enough they don’t have anything to hold on to their guys for, they’d probably be willing to make a deal sometime in May.

[MoneyInTheBank]

Sure. But DeLeon (6.9), Perez (6.0) and Garrett (4.8) have had walk issues throughout their careers. Bedrosian less so but he is coming off a bad year and may just not have much left. These four have the highest Reds walk rates this year, or did coming into today’s game. The homer allowance is higher than last year so far, but Reds tend to allow a lot of homers in their stadium. And it’s all a small sample.

I just don’t think Reds have enough good relievers. Most of the starters are doing ok, they have the same coaches and philosophies. But sure, ask the question.

Bedrosian had some red flags last year but pitched well overall

[Kc61]

Bedrosian had some red flags last year but pitched well overall

I should have said an injured year, he only pitched 14.2 innings. Don’t disagree with your description.

Will edit to clarify re Bedrock being injured in 2020.

[757690]

Very few are having good years, so far. There’s a good chunk of decent pitchers on that list who have way more upside than the Bedrosians, Romanos, Fulmers, and De Leons we’re currently counting on to pitch the middle innings. I’m guessing a bunch of those guys will be just fine by years end.

I still think it was a massive blunder that they didn’t bring back Bradley, that’s one guy. Brad Hand got good money, but as you can tell from how the pen is cratering this team, it’s money well spent especially if they weren’t going to add to the rotation (or rest of the team for that matter.)

In terms of trade targets actual names, yeah I’m guessing most teams aren’t trying to trade yet. But if there is, I mentioned Givens earlier ITT, and the Rockies are awful enough they don’t have anything to hold on to their guys for, they’d probably be willing to make a deal sometime in May.

Bradley is out for awhile with an oblique injury. He had a 6 ERA when he was placed on the IL.

[Wonderful Monds]

Bradley is out for awhile with an oblique injury. He had a 6 ERA when he was placed on the IL.

He’s pitched 3 innings and he’ll be back at some point. He’s definitely a guy the Reds could desperately use on their roster right now, is the point. He may not have made a difference in the games played so far, but they could actually have a guy coming back to make an impact sometime in the next month or so, but with the current roster they do not.

[Tom Servo]

I think saying “just add more MLB caliber arms” is a cop out. I mean I agree the crew of Romano/Fulmer/De Leon isn’t getting it done but Bedrosian and Doolittle are experienced guys with success and that hasn’t been turning out great either. Plenty of other teams have scrounged through our scraps too (Wandy, Raley, Nate Jones) so an argument that only the Reds deal with this subpar level of talent doesn’t quite hold water.

All of this does go back to a point I’ve been saying which is that Antone is more valuable out of the pen than as an average starter. The problem is we need two more of him to be halfway decent and it doesn’t look like Antone’s 2.0 or 3.0 are about to walk through the door.

[Kinsm]

Lord help this board if Antone gets beat around for a couple of weeks as well.

[M2]

This is all simply a matter of having MLB-capable talent in the bullpen.

During the 2020 season, Sims’ role was expanded, Antone was added, Bradley was added. The talent base was expanded. Weaker guys, like Strop, were dropped.

Iglesias was on track by appearance #3 - an unexpected talent boost since his 2019 was poor.

As the talent got better and the right guys were used, the pen did better. The same can happen in 2021 if Reds make moves to improve pen talent level.

That they got last season's early bullpen mess sorted gives me some hope they can with this crew as well. Yet it's going to take some work.

[NebraskaRed]

Wonder if the Cubs would part with Chafin.

Granted, I just want him on the Reds mostly for how he looks and his sense of humor.

[NebraskaRed]

Oh, I didn't realize that he's from outside Dayton. Even better!

[Kc61]

I expect Vlad Gutierrez to be with the Reds soon. Assume he’ll be back on the forty-man roster now that his suspension is over.

He had a good spring, he doesn’t walk many hitters. The Reds gave him a nice bonus when he signed so he’s probably in their plans at least for a look.

Art Warren might get a call, he’s had the minor league experience through AA and pitched in majors briefly. His record seems decent enough, some walk issues at times.

Ryan Hendrix would seem to need more experience though he’s now on the taxi squad.

Philip Diehl is a lefty, low walk rates, has MLB experience with Rockies, some home run difficulties at times.

Riley O’Brien might be an interesting candidate, good minor league numbers through AA, mostly as a starter.

All these guys on forty-man roster.

[KronoRed]

Let’s see some names. Sincerely, who is out there that the Reds could get to improve the pen?

Insert Jeff Shaw joke here.

[Tony Cloninger]

I understand this was a bad 3 games for the bullpen. Like I was telling my game thread sparring buddy. Fullmer was great up until this game. He threw his 1 inning but then had to go 2 because they can’t let these starters go too deep. But hey he sucks because his previous innings say so. As if a reliever can’t just get better.

I’ve seen worse gas can bullpens. Ever watch the 1997-98 Seattle bullpen. That was fun. Just for Lou Pinella’s reactions.