Cincinnati Reds Rotation in Flux – Option Rookie Davis to Louisville

The Cincinnati Reds announced Tuesday that they’ve optioned, 24 year old rookie starter, Rookie Davis, to AAA Louisville.

The move comes just two days after Rookie Davis gave up four runs in 4.1 innings in the Cincinnati Reds 10-4 loss to the Yankees on Monday night.  Davis started five games, but didn’t last past the fifth inning any of them.  Cincinnati hasn’t made a corresponding roster move yet, but the most likely candidate to take Davis’ place in the current rotation is Robert Stephenson.  If the Reds opt to keep Stephenson in his current bullpen role, then they’ll likely promote either Jackson Stephens or Lisalverto Bonilla from Louisville.

Cincinnati has several more exciting options like Tayler Mahle, who is currently 5-0 with a 0.73 WHIP in seven starts at AA Pensacola, but are very unlikely to make such a bold move this early in the season.  Mahle was just named named the Minor League Player of the Month for AA thanks in large part to his perfect game against Mobile on April 22nd.

The Reds now have just three starters in their rotation, and have already used a National League leading eight starting pitchers on the season.  The Reds’ rotation began the season filled with injuries and cast offs.  Somehow the Reds remain just a half game behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals entering play on Wednesday.

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The Cincinnati Reds are in this situation because of injuries, but the offense has kept them in the race.

Injuries to Homer Bailey, for the fourth year in a row, and Anthony DeSclafani, for the second consecutive season, left the team short on starters.  The offseason trade of Dan Straily left the Reds with very few options even before those injuries.  The ineffectiveness of Cody Reed, Stephenson, and Davis have them scrambling for even more answers.  The fact that they’ve been surprisingly competitive despite struggles from the starting rotation exacerbates the problem.

The offense is for real. The 172 runs scored so far this season is good enough for third most in baseball.  The bullpen is for real.  Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias have been terrific and the rest of the pen has admirably picked up the slack. Meanwhile, the rotation struggles to routinely pitch five innings. Price and company will need to get innovative to get the starters up to the same level.

Next: Reds' bullpen leads team to split over Yankees

The deciding factor may be how close Tony Cingrani is to returning from the DL.  If he is ready to return to the bullpen that changes everything.  Then Stephenson will get a chance at the rotation.  Reed could also come back to start Monday if that is what the Reds want.  Eventually, they need to replace Davis and Garrett with somebody.