Cincinnati Reds: Starting Homer Bailey when he returns is insane

Homer Bailey is coming back to the Cincinnati Reds in a couple of weeks, but why on earth would he be inserted into the starting rotation again?

The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly bringing Homer Bailey back to the big leagues when his rehab assignment concludes in a couple of weeks. While Bailey’s return was inevitable, inserting him into the starting rotation is pure madness.

According to C. Trent Rosecrans from The Athletic, the Reds GM Nick Krall said Bailey would make 2 more starts for Triple-A Louisville and then rejoin Cincinnati as part of the starting rotation.

Bailey has started 4 of the 5 games he’s pitched since beginning his rehab assignment with the Louisville Bats. Bailey’s last outing was actually in relief. He went two innings, allowed one hit and no runs.

So, why did the Reds previously discuss putting Bailey in the bullpen, follow through on their plan with a bullpen appearance last week while on his rehab assignment, only to plan to insert him into the starting rotation upon his return to Cincinnati? Again, the thought of doing that is nothing short of madness on behalf of the Reds’ front office.

Yes, in all likelihood, Matt Harvey will be traded before the MLB Trade Deadline, which will coincide with Bailey’s return to the 25-man roster. So the Reds can make the move from Harvey to Bailey and not remove one of the up-and-coming young pitchers from the starting rotation.

However, Bailey does not deserve that spot. Other than the $40 million he’s still owed, it makes no sense to give Bailey his starting job back. He hasn’t been tearing it up at Triple-A Louisville. In this 4 starts during his rehab assignment, Bailey’s allowed 29 hits and 16 earned runs. The only positive to Bailey’s numbers with the Bats are his 2 walks allowed through 23.2 innings.

Robert Stephenson deserves to start

There’s another caveat to this whole Homer Bailey saga. It’s not just the fact that Bailey has been bad, but it’s the fact that Robert Stephenson has been good. Stephenson, the former first-round pick of the Reds in 2011, has been playing very well of late for the Louisville Bats.

Over his last 10 games, Stephenson is 7-2 with a 2.77 ERA. Walks have always been a problem for Stephenson, but during that same 10-game span, he’s only averaging 2.3 walks per game. In Stephenson’s last game against Indianapolis, he struck out 12 batters in 6 innings. He’s also had an 11 strikeout performance, and two outings with 9 punchouts over his last 10 games.

Next: Jesse Winker is making a push for NL Rookie of the Year

Bailey was destined to return to the big league club. MLB mandates that a rehab assignment for a pitcher cannot exceed 30 days. But his place is in the bullpen, not in the starting rotation. The Reds’ front office has been very indecisive this season, and maybe this is another one of those instances. We’ll see in a couple of weeks.