Cincinnati Reds: Three players hindered by virus-related hiatus

3. Is Lucas Sims the Reds bullpen ace?

It was thought before last season that David Bell will employ the idea of using closer Raisel Iglesias as the team’s “bullpen ace”. Meaning that, regardless of the situation, when Bell needed outs, he’d turn to Iglesias. That idea didn’t work out well for Bell or Iglesias, as the right-hander was hung with 12 losses. Perhaps Lucas Sims better fits that mold going forward.

Sims, who was part of a trade between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves back in 2018 has blossomed into a solid reliever for this year’s team. A former starter, Sims seems to have settled into his role, coming out of the bullpen nine times so far in 2020. Only Nate Jones (7.2 innings pitched) has appeared in as many games, but Sims has thrown more innings (9.1).

Lucas Sims has allowed just one earned run on the season; a home run on August 7th to former NL MVP Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers. I think we can let that one slide. In fact, Sims has supplanted Michael Lorenzen as the the Reds right-handed setup man, setting the table for Iglesias in the ninth inning.

Sims ERA is sitting at 0.96. He has 13 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.750. Oh yeah, his ERA+ is 508! I think that’s pretty good. Hopefully the absence from the field will be more of chance for Sims to recharge his batteries. Only the Reds starting rotation has thrown more innings than Sims this season.