Cincinnati Reds try to hold on while the returns of Anthony DeSclafani and Homer Bailey inch closer

On the day when the Cincinnati Reds optioned ace Amir Garrett to Triple-A  Opening Day starter Scott Feldman pitched his best game of the season.

The Cincinnati Reds have tried to patch together a starting rotation since the top two starters Anthony DeSclafani and Homer Bailey were ruled out for the start of the season.  As recently as December the question was whether DeSclafani or the since traded Dan Staily would make the Opening Day start.   Next thing you know that patchwork included letting Scott Feldman start Opening Day and Amir Garrett make the third most consecutive starts to start the season.  Feldman had his ups and downs while Garrett had only one bad start in the first five weeks of the season.

The good news is that since Garrett went to Louisville, Feldman has had a pair of great starts against the San Francisco Giants.  While the Giants were visiting Cincinnati, Feldman threw a complete game shutout.  It completed a three game sweep of the Giants at Great American Ballpark.

Feldman followed that match-up against former Reds’ ace Johnny Cueto with the same match-up five games later.  In the second go around both pitchers allowed 2 runs and the game was eventually won by the Giants in seventeen innings.  Those starts dropped Feldman’s ERA from nearly five to below 4 runs per nine innings.  Then he had arguably his worst start of the season against the Chicago Cubs the day before Garrett returned to the Reds.

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With Amir Garrett in Triple-A, the other pitchers have stepped up for the Cincinnati Reds.

For several days the Reds went with a three man rotation.  After Garrett left, Rookie Davis had another appearance of less than five innings.  That resulted in a demotion of his own.

That meant that aside from Feldman, Bronson Arroyo and the ever underestimated Tim Adleman had to carry the load.  The duo responded by each having a pair of solid starts.  Arroyo even had what many consider to be his best start to date against the Giants in San Francisco.

Perhaps more impressively was the first start for the Lisalverto Bonilla as a member of the Reds.  He replaced the demoted Davis in the rotation.  Bonilla pitched a complete game for the Reds the day after the seventeen inning game in San Francisco.  That was in stark opposition to Davis’ good looking, short outings.  This start saved the bullpen especially since Adleman left his start in San Francisco after one inning from neck soreness.

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What this all adds up to is a team that is competing for first place in the National League Central.  This is happening without their top three starters, all on the 60 day DL.  With their top two pitchers out and Brandon Finnegan on the DL, the team is still in the race.  The team needs to hold it together another month or so.  Then the Reds might add  a pair of veterans into that young rotation.