Cincinnati Reds watch helplessly as Homer Bailey injures himself one more time

The Cincinnati Reds had Homer Bailey penciled into the middle of the rotation before he hurt himself one more time.

Following the trade of Dan Straily to the Miami Marlins, the Cincinnati Reds were relying on Homer Bailey to be the number three starter after their big two starters from last year.  The thought was that he could go out every fifth day and give the Reds solid starts.  Instead he will be on the disabled list for the start of the season for the third consecutive year.

There was cause for concern as far back as November when the Reds announced that Bailey was planning a normal off-season.  That is very unusual considering Bailey had to be shut down prior to the end of the season.  Usually in that situation a player would start his throwing regimen earlier to allow for more off days during the process.

Even as the off-season progressed, it was curious that the Reds didn’t list Tim Adleman as a prospective starter for 2017 after his yeoman’s work down the stretch.  There was also a lack of real updates about how Bailey’s throwing was coming.  The front office claimed that Bailey was healthy.  Meanwhile, Bailey was out of sight this past off-season.

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This is even worse than that.  Not only won’t Bailey be ready for the start of the 2017 season, he is already on the 60 day DL.  He is going to miss at least the first two months of the season and probably more.

Homer Bailey’s injury makes the Cincinnati Reds bring their starting pitching depth to Cincinnati to start the season.

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The fact of the matter is that the Reds see Adleman as organizational depth.  Unfortunately, the injury means that Adleman may  start the season in Cincinnati.  That means that there is a huge drop-off to the next tier of possibilities or a young prospect like the phenom, Sal Romano, may be in the rotation to start the season.

The next tier of course is asking an under prepared prospect like Cody Reed or Rookie Davis to assume a spot in the rotation.  It also could force Scott Feldman permanently into the rotation.  That would weaken a bullpen that is trying to find its way.

Besides to potential move of Feldman, it could cause more issues in the bullpen.  When you say that Bailey will be a starter, you think of the work horse that goes deep into games.  Adleman is a five inning starter at this point in his career.

That means that every time through the rotation the bullpen must eat at least one more inning.  35 innings over the course of a season doesn’t seem like much. That doesn’t take into the account that the last two spots in the rotation will be rookies.

Next: Devin Mesoraco ruled out for Opening Day

The Reds should have seen this coming.  If they didn’t, then shame on them.  The problem is that it doesn’t appear that a good Plan B is in place heading into the season.