The Reds announced this afternoon that outfielder Tyler Holt, infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan, catcher Rafael Lopez and right-handed pitchers Matt Magill and Jon Moscot have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville, thus removing each from the team’s 40-man roster.
Holt, 27, received the most big league playing time of the group this season, tallying 208 plate appearances across 106 games and batting .235/.327/.296. This marked the third season in which he’s seen some degree of Major League action — the entirety of which has come between Ohio’s two MLB teams. A longtime Cleveland farmhand, the former 10th-rounder (2010) is a career .228/.306/.274 hitter in 318 PAs as a Major Leaguer and a .304/.398/.382 hitter in Triple-A. He has enough time in the minors to elect free agency and will do just that, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.
Lopez, 29, appeared in just eight games and tallied seven hitless plate appearances with the Reds this season. He has only 21 PAs and two hits at the big league level to go along with a .259/.333/.322 slash through 175 Triple-A games in his pro career. He, too, will become a free agent, Sheldon notes.
The 26-year-old Magill returned to the Majors for the first time since 2013 when he was with the Dodgers, though his action was fairly limited, as he tossed just 4 1/3 innings across five games late in the year. Magill has a 6.47 ERA 32 Major League innings and has struggled greatly with his control, issuing more walks (33) than innings pitched (32). He does have a more respectable 4.57 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9 in his Triple-A career. Like both Holt and Lopez, Magill is headed for minor league free agency.
As for Kivlehan and Moscot, both will remain in the organization, as neither has the requisite Major League or minor league service time to elect free agency, and neither has been outrighted in the past. Kivlehan, who was designated for assignment last week, is a .282/.344/.470 career hitter in the minors, where he’s played both corner infield positions extensively and has seen limited action in all three outfield slots. The former Mariners prospect is set to turn 27 in December and could compete for a bench spot next spring. Moscot, meanwhile, underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-July. He’ll presumably spend most of the next year rehabbing and hope to factor back into the Reds’ bullpen or rotation in late 2017 or early 2018. The 25-year-old has made eight starts for the Reds over the past two seasons but has an ERA just shy of 7.00 in that time, as he’s struggled to locate the ball effectively and to miss bats. Moscot does have a solid minor league track record, however, as he’s logged a 3.79 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 since being drafted in the fourth round of the 2012 draft (including a 4.38 ERA in Triple-A).
Was Moscot a top prospect?
Was a Reds’ top-20 prospect until injuring his non-throwing shoulder. Still could be a useful pitcher.
Moscot was generally rated highly for being an advanced pitcher with ~4 average major league pitches. Reds and scouts saw him as a safe bet to be a back of the order starter, rather than a guy with raw upside.
Unfortunately Moscot’s performance in AAA and MLB hasn’t been particularly impressive, and now injuries (and struggles) have caused him to miss his obvious window.
In 2015 he made his debut, but dove to field a ball and landed on his left non-throwing shoulder. It was a crazy fluke injury, but it ended his season. He continued to have pain in that non-throwing shoulder, and struggled. After being optioned to AAA he tore his UCL and had Tommy John surgery, likely putting him out all of 2017.
He could still be a useful pitcher, likely as a swing man. He doesn’t have a particularly good pitch or two that’d play up in the bullpen.
Tommy John for a player like Moscot could be a blessing in disguise if all works out for him. Most pitchers who have successful TJ tend to come back physically stronger and if that happens to Moscot, he could theoretically add a couple mph on his fastball which could help play up his secondary offerings.
Why keep Josh Smith on the 40 man?