Cincinnati Reds: 3 players who could be gone by the trade deadline

Matt Kemp, Outfielder

This idea has been kicked around all offseason. The Cincinnati Reds have an overcrowded outfield and the most likely candidate to find a new address is Matt Kemp. The three-time All-Star was part of the trade that brought Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, and Kyle Farmer to Cincinnati while shipping Homer Bailey to Los Angeles.

Kemp is a fine player, but at this stage of his career he’s better suited to be a designated hitter and fourth outfielder on an American League team. Kemp is currently being platooned with Jesse Winker in left field and I can only assume that the Reds would rather give the reps to their young, up and coming slugger rather than the aging veteran.

Don’t forget that the Reds still have Phillip Ervin and No. 1 prospect Nick Senzel in Triple-A Louisville. Senzel has been groomed all offseason to be this year’s starting center fielder and when he arrives, the Reds will need to find a spot for Scott Schebler.

I think Schebs is the perfect fourth outfielder for this team. He can play all three positions, has power from the left side, can hit leadoff or further down in the batting order as well. If any of the aforementioned outfielders happen to find themselves on the injured list, Phillip Ervin, like Schebler is capable of playing all three outfield positions too.

We all know that Kemp will not be part of the Cincinnati Reds organization going forward. He was the offsetting piece of the trade that allowed the Reds to move on from Homer Bailey. While it’s likely that any trade involving Kemp would require the Reds to eat an enormous piece of his salary, the $7M they received from the Dodgers will help ease the pain of that transaction.

Zach Duke, Pitcher

This is has absolutely nothing to do with a potential trade, but rather a lack of production. So far Zach Duke has failed to impress and the Cincinnati Reds have enough left-handed pitchers that his production could be easily replaced.

Duke is a LOOGY. His entire job rests on the ability to get a key out versus a left-handed batter is crucial times during the game. He’s yet to do that and his time could be very short. Duke has appeared in 8 games, thrown a grand total of 4.1 innings and has an ERA of 8.31.

Zach Duke seems like a nice guy, so I’m going to try to go easy on my criticism, but the guy doesn’t bring enough value to this team to justify the Reds hanging onto him for much longer. He’s not the only left-handed pitcher that David Bell can turn to.

Amir Garrett has had a great start to the 2019 season and Wandy Peralta, also a southpaw, turned in a great spring. Robert Stephenson, while not a lefty, has been a surprisingly good addition to the Reds’ bullpen as well. Peralta owns a 0.00 ERA, Garrett’s ERA is 1.35 and Stephenson’s is only 0.96.

The Reds also have lefties Cody Reed and Brandon Finnegan down at Triple-A Louisville if David Bell is desperate for another southpaw out of the pen. Matt Bowman, Sal Romano, Jackson Stephens, and Anthony Bass all provide reinforcements if the Reds move on from Duke.

Zach Duke is a specialist and his is a dying breed. If MLB insiztiutes the new three-batter minimum next season, the days of the LOOGY will be gone. Duke has not produced yet this season and it wouldn’t be shocking at all if he were let go before the All-Star break.

David Hernández, Pitcher

David Hernández had a fabulous season in 2018, but so far this year the right-hander has struggled. Hernández labored through the final at-bat against Corey Dickerson on Opening Day and it’s all been down hill since then.

Hernández is in the final year of his deal. He’s a quality arm out of the bullpen, but Hernández seems like he’s struggling to adjust to the way in which David Bell is trying to utilize him this season.

Last year, it was very rare to see Hernández come into a game with runners on base or in the middle of an inning. In 53 of his 57 appearances last season, David Hernández began the inning with no outs and no runners on base.

David Bell has shown a different approach than Jim Riggleman. We’ve seen Michael Lorenzen and Amir Garrett, who’ve both shown the ability to go multiple innings, come in for just one or two batters.

Hernández, through 6 innings of work, has a 4.50 ERA. Hernández has allowed 10 hits in those 6 innings, which is the same as Wandy Peralta, Robert Stephenson, and Amir Garrett combined. Only starters Anthony DeSclafani and Tanner Roark have allowed more hits and both have pitched in more than double the number of innings.

Luis Castillo has pitched in 24.2 innings to this point and has fewer hits allowed than Hernández. David Hernández also has allowed the highest batting average (.370) among all pitchers on the Cincinnati Reds staff.

Hopefully David Hernández returns to form. In 57 appearances last season, Hernández owned a 2.57 ERA. It’s doubtful the Reds would outright release Hernández, but it is conceivable that he could be traded if he shows a return to his 2018 self as the season progresses.

It’s still very early and hopefully the majority of Reds fans have yet to give up on their team. However, if things don’t improve in the coming weeks, the front office could view this season a lot differently than they did before Opening Day.