The Reds announced a series of roster moves today, selecting right-hander Ben Lively and recalling fellow righty Kevin Herget. In corresponding moves, righty Luis Cessa was designated for assignment and left-hander Reiver Sanmartin was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left elbow stress reaction, retroactive to Monday. Additionally, infielder Matt Reynolds, who was designated for assignment on the weekend, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Louisville. The club also released righty Hunter Strickland, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic.
Cessa, 31, spent many years working out of the bullpen for the Yankees before coming to the Reds at the deadline in 2021. He continued working as a reliever for the Reds initially but they converted him to the rotation late last year. They had a few vacancies after they traded away Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle and Sonny Gray as part of their roster teardown. Cessa was able to hold his own in that new role last year, posting a 3.77 ERA over nine starts as the season was winding down.
He held a rotation job going into 2023 but couldn’t carry those results forward, as he’s been lit up for an ERA of 9.00 through 26 innings so far this year. There’s probably a bit of bad luck in there when considering his .410 batting average on balls in play and 60.2% strand rate but he’s also striking out a paltry 8.3% of batters faced, a significant drop from the 17.8% rate he managed in his nine starts at the end of last year.
The Reds will now have a week to trade Cessa or pass him through waivers. He’s making a salary of $2.65MM this year, which could deter other teams, considering his struggles on the season. Since he has more than five years of service time, in the event he clears waivers, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while retaining that salary. If that comes to pass, any of the other 29 teams could sign Cessa for the prorated league minimum with the Reds on the hook for the remainder.
As for Lively, 31, he pitched in the big leagues in three straight years beginning in 2017, posting a 4.80 ERA in 120 innings. He signed with the Samsung Lions of the KBO League in August of 2019 and stayed with them through the 2021 campaign, registering a 4.14 ERA in his time there.
He returned to North America after that and has signed minor league deals with the Reds in each of the past two offseasons. Last year, he had a 4.09 ERA in 77 innings over 18 Triple-A starts but didn’t get called to the majors. He’s off to an even better start this year in terms of results, currently sporting a 2.33 ERA over 27 innings. There are some caveats to note, as he has just a 15.2% strikeout rate and is being helped by a .224 BABIP and 84.6% strand rate, but he will nonetheless get a chance to replicate those results in the big leagues, returning to the show for the first time since 2019.
Sanmartin is facing a significant absence as he won’t throw at all for the next four to six weeks, manager David Bell tells Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. That leaves Alex Young as the club’s only left-handed reliever for the time being.
As for Reynolds, he has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency due to having a previous career outright, though it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so. He only spent about a week on the club’s roster and got just five plate appearances in that time.
Strickland, 34, is a veteran who was with the Reds last year, making 66 appearances with a 4.91 ERA. He returned on a minor league deal in the winter, was released when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster but re-signed on another minors deal. Unfortunately, he has an 11.45 ERA through 12 Triple-A appearances and the Reds have released him yet again.
BEBO!
I wonder if the Yakees will pick up Cessa on a minor league deal, he was good a few years back for them
I fondly referred to him as Cesspool for a bit. 🙂
He’s a solid arm if you use him out of the bullpen. Don’t know why the Reds insisted on using him as a starter this year. He clearly doesn’t have the repertoire to make it 3 times through a lineup.
I would be glad if the Yankees took a flyer on Cessa.
A large market team will probably take a flyer on that contract.
No one is claiming that contract. He’s had exactly 1 good year. He’ll be on the DFA train the rest of his career.
One good year has gotten many pitchers a three to five year deal for a whole lot more money as we have seen very recently.
Yeah my thoughts exactly. Wouldn’t mind having him back on the Yankees.
With all the Yankee injuries, almost guaranteed to be signed again. Not sure if he has any gas left in the tank but he is still young. Maybe Yankee pitching staff can get him back to old form.
Although as a Yankee fan I never trusted him!
Wow no ces or McClain what are the front office wateing for front office and bell dumb and dumber
Funny someone that spells waiting as “wateing” calls baseball professionals dumb.
Reds are known for not rushing players, especially position players.
I am guessing outside injury or backsliding of any of these guys, we will start seeing some of these guys called up around the All Star break, especially if guys like Myers and/or Newman are dealt to contenders.
Known home-run hitter Ben Lively
I don’t know why it seems like Lively has been bouncing around forever now, and would be over 40.
The WBC really messed up Cessa’s preparation to be an SP (which he was miscast for anyways), and ultimately derailed his season so far.
Got pinata stats, 9.00 ERA, 2.231 Whip, n 15.9 hits per 9inn, Atlantic lge all-star
Cessa ain’t been lively all year.
I thought the starter thing was misguided too.
The Reds let their pitchers talk them into starting roles instead of the reverse as it should be. We saw the same with Lorensen, who got hurt for quite a while when he switched, then went out the door.
Just because you need one, that doesn’t mean a reliever is your best option for a starter.
He’s certainly worth a minor league deal, but I seriously doubt anyone is taking that contract off their hands.
A guess is that Cessa, especially when the going got rough, wasn’t a DJ disciple….
The unknown factor here is Cessa was willing to be a DJ disciple. If a pitcher is going fine on his own there’s never a problem; if there are struggles then DJ applies his unique coaching methodologies. A few former Reds didn’t buy in and were cut loose (Iglesias, etc.).