Cincinnati Reds: Why Tanner Rainey is a future fit for the starting rotation

As the season winds down and rosters are expanded, most impressive minor league players get the chance to get major league experience. With the Cincinnati Reds and their inconsistent pitching staff, they need any young arm they can get. Tanner Rainey would be a great September call-up for the Reds.

In a few short days, Major League clubs can expand their roster from 25 to the full 40-man roster. With the Cincinnati Reds looking to end the season on a positive note, this could be a great opportunity to see the youth this team prides itself on. The future has already been brought forward with the departure of veterans, and the rise of young pitching and slugging.

With the Reds not able to have the starters go deep in games consistently and relying on the bullpen early, a spark is needed to fill the gap innings to the closer, Raisel Iglesias. Who better to bring back to the big leagues than Tanner Rainey, the young hurler who made an appearance earlier this season.

Tanner Rainey was drafted by the Reds during the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Southeastern Louisiana University. Starting immediately with the Billings Mustangs and making his way through the minor league system, Rainey had inconsistent numbers that seemed to increase, up until last season.

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Splitting the 2017 season with the Daytona Tortugas and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, his earned run average and record started to improve mightily. Posting a 3-3 record with a 3.19 earned run average over 53 relief appearances, Rainey impressed the Cincinnati Reds enough to be invited to spring training this season.

Experiencing a Whirlwind Start

Rainey got his first major league appearance soon after the Reds purchased his contract; that same day. In Philadelphia, the Reds were in scoring range trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh following Jared Hughes giving up the lead posted by Homer Bailey. Rainey came in for relief to keep the distance manageable and it couldn’t have gone worse.

Aside from the two strikeouts he posted, two hits and a walk were given up to load the bases. What proceeded next was Phillies’ then third baseman Scott Kingery hitting a grand slam to blow the game wide open.

Rainey’s ERA skyrocketed to an unheard of 36.00. He proceeded to drop his ERA to 24.43, but his last appearance before being sent down was in Cleveland where he gave up 8 runs in 0.2 innings pitched.

Rainey Days Don’t Last Forever

While those numbers are nowhere near impressive, what does make you wonder is how dominant he has been in Triple-A for the Louisville Bats this season. Similar to Robert Stephenson who is now up with the Reds, both pitchers are leading the team in wins among other categories.

With Stephenson not on the Bats currently, Rainey is 6-2 with a 2.12 ERA in 41 games. What’s even more impressive is that over 46.2 innings pitched, he has 60 strikeouts and a .149 average along with a 1.14 WHIP.

Having Rainey appear out of the bullpen especially when the starters don’t last very long would benefit all parties. Getting more inning experience would be great to develop Rainey into a future rotation piece, and it can give the normal relievers some time off.

Posting an impressive season with the Bats should warrant Rainey a spot on the roster when call-ups happen in September. Looking to bounce back from an abysmal start to this 2018 season, I expect Rainey to finish strong and provide some quality appearances if given the chance.

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With the pattern of young players growing up fast on this team, Rainey could find himself joining an already dangerous bullpen that oozes potential. The Reds start game two of their homestand with the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at 7:10 pm, with Matt Harvey on the mound.

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