The Reds formally announced top pitching prospect Nick Lodolo’s widely expected promotion to the big leagues yesterday, and they’ve now officially added him to the Major League roster by selecting his contract from Triple-A Louisville. Right-hander Riley O’Brien was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move, and Cincinnati optioned righty Daniel Duarte to Louisville to open a spot on the active 28-man roster.
The 27-year-old O’Brien will now be traded or placed on outright waivers within a week’s time. An eighth-round pick by the Rays back in 2017, O’Brien came to the Reds in a 2020 trade that sent southpaw Cody Reed to Tampa Bay. He made his big league debut in 2021 but pitched just 1 1/3 innings in his lone start before being sent back to Louisville, where he otherwise spent the entirety of his 2021 season.
In 112 2/3 innings with Louisville last season, O’Brien pitched to a 4.55 ERA with generally similar marks from fielding-independent pitching metrics. He fanned a solid 24.7% of his Triple-A opponents and induced grounders at a similarly sound 45% clip, but O’Brien walked 11.2% of his opponents and plunked 10 more. O’Brien also walked three of the nine big league hitters he faced last year and allowed a pair of homers, illustrating that he’ll need to refine his command if he’s to find success at the big league level.
That said, O’Brien only turned 27 a couple months ago and has a pair of minor league option years remaining (2022 included). He’s shown an ability to miss bats in the minors and, as Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin wrote when ranking him 29th among Cincinnati prospects, he’s shown three pitches that have all, at times, looked like potential plus offerings: his fastball, curveball and changeup. A club with some 40-man flexibility and a need for pitching depth could certainly take him on as a project.
As covered in greater detail yesterday, Lodolo will join fellow top prospect Hunter Greene in a youthful and high-upside Cincinnati rotation. The No. 7 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Lodolo is widely considered to be among the sport’s 100 best prospects and will give Reds fans a pair of young hurlers on which to dream.
Lodolo, Greene, 2021 Rookie of the Year Jonathan India and promising young backstop Tyler Stephenson could well be integral parts of the Reds’ core moving forward, and the organization undoubtedly still has high hopes for former No. 2 overall draft pick Nick Senzel, whose career to date has been continually derailed by injuries. Cincinnati surely still hopes to contend in 2022, but in order to do so they’ll need big performances from several young players, as the club also subtracted a number of productive veterans over the winter while cutting payroll (e.g. Jesse Winker, Sonny Gray, Wade Miley).
Lodolo and Greene – might there be better days ahead for the Reds?
Sadly, appears not.
They can’t hit nor driven in runs, so the offense looks bleak for the next several years. They won’t spend for FAs or trades so they will have to wait for the minors to produce hitters(which won’t be anytime soon).
I guess there may be, a center line including Stephenson, India, Barrero and Senzel shall provide a good number of productive years, plus such a young rotation of Green, Lodolo, Gutierrez and Sanmartin has plenty of upside.
Barreo is unproven at this point. If his bat shows up like it did in the minors,,it would help replace some of the offense lost in Castellanos, Winker and Suarez. That is roughly 90 plus HRs and 300 RBIs. Senzel could take some of the load off if he can stay healthy.(there is a pattern there). There is still a lot of offensive addition needed.
You are in a rebuild right now. Be patient. Don’t worry about wins. Now is the time to lose, and secure a high draft pick next year to go along with this year’s high pick. Now, it is about seeing exactly what you have with your kids. Some studs will be duds and a dud or two will turn into productive big leaguers.
That is the problem. The Reds have been in a rebuild mode since around 1990. There is a pretty good bit of evidence out there that they either don’t know how to rebuild or are not willing to spend enough to rebuild.. Getting all the top draft choices is good (and they have drafted wisely lately), but you have to add to that with astute trades and FA signings. Both trades and FAs require you to spend some money. That is the problem.
Now is the time to turn that trend around. If Greene and Lodolo are legit top of the rotation arms then it will save you a whole lot of $$$ down the road by not having to shell out top $$$ and years on free agent market. Worry more about being solid defensively than having a bunch of bashers on offense. Be careful of the Pirates. They have resources that are even more limited than the Reds. However, they are stockpiling young talent and could finally emerge in a couple of years with a nice core to get back to the glory days.
Reds fans have been hearing that same spill for 30 years with no real results. Might as well try yet another rebuild.
Reds need to stop wasting all this service time when they have no shot at the playoffs.
New CBA made service time considerations largely irrelevant
Agree. I would bet Stephenson heads home to Atlanta as soon as he gets a chance.. Likewise for India heading to south Florida.
Lodolo’s stuff looks filthy. Watching him pitch reminded of Carlton’s slider. It starts middle of the plate looking like a fastball and disappears behind a right handed hitter’s back foot.
With pitching prospects like Green and Lodolo, maybe the Reds rebuild won’t take as long as many of us thought? Add Santillan and Sanmartin with Art Warren…some really good young arms there.
Watching him on the dance floor reminded me of Carlton’s dance.
If they were trying to compete this year they would have kept both Miley and Winker. That said, maybe trading Gutierrez with Suarez would’ve been the better move overall.
I don’t think Gutierrez has nearly the trade value that Winker had. I think Gutierrez is 5th man at best in a rotation on an ok team and not even in the rotation on a good team.