3 biggest takeaways from the 1st half of the Cincinnati Reds 2022 season

2. The Reds rotation is loaded with rookie pitchers.

With so many injuries, the Cincinnati Reds were bound to see several rookies make their major league debuts in 2022. Injuries to both Luis Castillo and Mike Minor forced David Bell's hand. And while they likely would've found their way to the big leagues this season at some point, both Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo (for all intents and purposes) were part of the Reds Opening Day roster.

Reiver Sanmartin was part of the Reds starting rotation to begin the season, but a disastrous start from the left-hander saw Cincinnati shift him to the bullpen. Both Sanmartin and last year's rookie Vladimir Gutierrez appear to be ticketed for a relief role moving forward.

But, the Reds got surprising contributions from Connor Overton. The former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher latched on with Cincinnati during spring training and his performance at Triple-A Louisville caught the eye of the Reds brass. Overton pitched very well in his first four games, but a back in jury in late-May landed the right-hander on the 60-day IL.

There was the surprise addition of Graham Ashcraft to the Cincinnati Reds rotation. In fact, Ashcraft received his first start in Toronto after it was revealed that Overton was headed to the Injured List. Ashcraft has shown that he has what it takes to compete at the highest-level, and the Alabama native can touch the upper-90s on the radar gun.

Might we see more rookie pitchers during the second-half of the 2022 season? Brandon Williamson was just promoted to Triple-A Louisville and Andrew Abbott is currently at Double-A Chattanooga. There's an outside chance that one or both could be called up to the big leagues later this season.