Cincinnati Reds add several players as the rosters expand

With the month of September upon them, the Cincinnati Reds welcome some reinforcements.

All season long, the Cincinnati Reds have had to focus on rotating players through from the minors to keep the pitching staff fresh.  With September here and the minor league seasons wrapping up, the Reds have recalled several players for the stretch run.  None of them are completely new faces, except for shortstop Zach Vincej.

Vincej is the most interesting call-up.  He has a minor league Gold Glove Award and hit a solid .270 this year in Triple-A.  So far, he has no hits in two pinch hits appearances, after playing so well in the 2016 Arizona Fall League that he almost made the team out of spring.

Catcher Chad Wallach has stayed up thanks to the roster expansion after being called into service when regular catchers Stuart Turner and Tucker Barnhart had children born within a span of about a week.  Like Vincej, Wallach does not own a MLB hit, having gone zero in first seven attempts.  With Turner likely penciled in at Triple-A next year, Wallach is fighting for his chance to start 2018 in Cincinnati.

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The other player that stands out on his own merits is reliever Ariel Hernandez.  Hernandez has been developing as an elite set-up man in the minors.  He has run into some issues at the Triple-A and MLB levels, but his talent is still obvious.

Beyond these three, the Cincinnati Reds brought a small army of starting pitchers to support the staff.

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The Reds have also called up Cody Reed, Jackson Stephens, Amir Garrett, Rookie Davis, and Luke Farrell.  All five spent at least part of the season in the Louisville rotation.  Those five also saw at least one game on the Reds roster prior to the September call-up.

All of them except for Davis has seen game time in September.  Only one, though, made a start.  Garrett replaced Luis Castillo in the Reds’ rotation.

In his start Garrett took the loss going five innings, allowing four runs.  Garrett allowed three home runs, but only two walks.  

Those numbers are not good enough for next year, though.

Farrell, Reed, and Stephens have each pitched in one game this September without giving up a single run.  Stephens pitched two innings, but the other two only pitched one inning.  Farrell also did not walk a single batter.

Next: Blake Trahan and six others go to AFL

These eight players have a few more weeks to show the Reds that they deserve a chance to make the team next spring.  The Reds gave all of these pitchers chances earlier in the season, but the last memory is the strongest.  Hopefully, all of these memories will be fantastic.