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Cincinnati Reds Make First Round of September Call-Ups

By Matt Wilkes

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The Cincinnati Reds have made their first wave of September call-ups, recalling reliever Carlos Contreras and promoting catcher Ramon Cabrera to the big league squad.

Contreras has seen time in Cincinnati this season, putting up a 6.08 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 13.1 innings pitched. The right-hander largely struggled in his big league stint, walking (9) more batters than he struck out (7) and giving up three home runs.

Contreras has seen better results in Triple-A Louisville (2.95 ERA, 12.5 K/9), but has still had control problems, walking 30 batters in 39.2 innings (6.8 BB/9). For now, I wouldn’t expect him to be used in anything but a mop-up role until he proves he can command the strike zone with more consistency.

Cabrera, 25, has spent the entire season with Triple-A Louisville, where he’s batted .290/.343/.353 with 16 extra-base hits (14 doubles, two home runs) and 35 runs batted in. He’s a contact hitter who doesn’t strike out much (10.4 career K%) and has little power (22 home runs in eight minor league seasons). Defensively, Cabrera has thrown out potential base-stealers at a 23 percent rate in his career.

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The switch-hitting catcher has also spent time in the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers organizations, and will be making his major league debut when he appears in a game. Cabrera probably won’t get many starts, but he should provide manager Bryan Price with another bench option and allows him to use either Tucker Barnhart or Brayan Pena in pinch-hit situations without the worry of having no catcher on the bench.

Since Cabrera was not on the 40-man roster, a move will have to be made, but that has not been announced as of this writing. If I had to guess, I’d say that Double-A Pensacola catcher Kyle Skipworth will be the odd man out.

Update: The Reds have announced that right-handed pitcher Dylan Axelrod was designated for assignment to make room for Cabrera. Axelrod was 0-1 with a 7.30 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 12.1 innings with the Reds this season.

These particular moves probably won’t excite fans too much, but more call-ups are forthcoming. The Triple-A season doesn’t end until Sept. 7 and the Reds have said that they’ll let some players finish out the season there. With the Bats well out of playoff contention, expect to see the likes of Robert Stephenson and Brandon Finnegan join the Reds next week.

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