Ranking the Cincinnati Reds best rookie starters heading into the 2022 season

Last season, we saw the Cincinnati Reds send four rookie starters (Vladimir Gutierrez, Tony Santillan, Reiver Sanmartin, and Riley O'Brien) to the bump. Who is the Reds best rookie starter heading into the 2022 season?

Gutierrez received more starts than any other rookie on the Reds team last season. The Cuban right-hander started 22 games and posted a respectable 4.74 ERA. Santillan started just four games, but made 22 appearances out of the Cincinnati bullpen in 2021. Both Sanmartin and O'Brien combined for just three starts and 13 innings of work.

While the Reds have one of the more-talented rotations in the National League, there's no guarantee that Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray, and Luis Castillo will be on Cincinnati's roster come Opening Day. The trade rumors surrounding that trio of starters could open the door for several rookies in 2022.

4. Reiver Sanmartin, Reds starting pitcher

Reiver Sanmartin surprised all of us last season when he made two starts to end the Reds 2021 campaign. Both starts came against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Sanmartin recorded 11 punch outs in 11.2 innings and posted a 1.54 ERA.

Sanmartin will retain his rookie status heading into the 2022 season and will certainly be in the mix to find a spot in the Reds starting rotation. So why is the left-hander ranked so low? While impressive, two starts does not a successful season make, and I have a hard time passing out a great deal of kudos being that both times Sanmartin took the hill it was against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Sanmartin was acquired by Cincinnati in the same deal that brought Sonny Gray to the Queen City. Strangely, since we've heard Gray's name mentioned in trade rumors for the majority of the offseason, there's a possibility that Sanmartin could replace the two-time All-Star in the rotation.

Do the Reds view Reiver Sanmartin as a starter or reliever? Of his 25 games played in the minors last season, eight of them were out of the bullpen. With the Reds relief corps in shambles and Tejay Antone out for the season, we could see Sanmartin be a prominent member of the Cincinnati bullpen rather than the rotation.