Cincinnati Reds’ Bronson Arroyo unofficially calls it a career

With his latest arm injury Bronson Arroyo’s career for the Cincinnati Reds is essentially over.

For his last several starts the Cincinnati Reds’ training staff had been holding Arroyo’s arm together with cortisone and gumption.  He had come back from Tommy John and known rotator cuff tears.  It appears that those tears finally caught up with the two-time Red.

So two and a half years after undergoing UCL replacement and a matching shoulder surgery, Arroyo may finally need to hang up the cleats after rejoining the Reds on a minor league deal.  The shoulder just may not have enough good tissue in the rotator cuff to make a difference.  With Homer Bailey and Brandon Finnegan returning, it looked like Arroyo’s time was up, but neither impressed in his first time out.

This year, Arroyo has been awful.  In 14 starts he has only pitched 71 innings, barely averaging five innings per start.  His WHIP is 1.59, fueled in large part by his .320 batting average against.

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Arroyo also had trouble with the long ball.  In 2017 he had already surrender 23 home runs, which put him on pace to give up more than he had in 2011 when he led the National League.  With 45 strikeouts Arroyo was showing a surprisingly respectable ability to fool hitters, for at least an occasional at-bat.

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This isn’t the way Bronson Arroyo wanted to say good-bye, but at least it is with the Cincinnati Reds.

Arroyo spent ten of his seventeen big league seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.  14 of his 16 complete games and all six of his shutouts were with the Reds.  Arroyo’s last year in Boston was the only time that he eclipsed 200 innings pitched for a team besides the Reds.

Arroyo pitched 1761 1/3 of his 2435 2/3 career innings for the Cincinnati Reds.

That means just over 72% of his total innings pitched came as a Red.  It seems more impressive when you consider that in 8 of Arroyo’s first 9 seasons with the Reds he pitched 200 or more innings, excluding one season of 199 innings.

The Reds don’t owe Arroyo anything, but the team and the player owe the fans Bronson Arroyo night at Great American Ballpark.  Imagine a night where Arroyo throws out the first pitch and does something every half inning.  Then after the game he plays a concert for the fans.  The night ends with a fire works and video board display for Cincinnati’s favorite adopted son.

Next: Strikeout Hunger with SVDP and the Reds!

September 15th against Arroyo’s original team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, seems like the perfect time.  It would provide a great end to an otherwise rough season for the Reds’ fans and Arroyo.  Nobody deserves the relief more.