3 players from the 2021 Reds that are failing miserably with other teams

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The 2022 version of the Cincinnati Reds is vastly different than the one that fans saw put together a winning record last season. The front office gutted the Reds, trading big-name stars and hitching their wagon to a bevy of unproven prospects.

But not every well-known player who's no longer with the Redlegs is doing great. It seems like Eugenio Suárez has turned things around. That said, Geno leads the league in strikeouts as well. Some things never change.

Which players who were on last year's Reds roster are struggling with their new team? A few names might surprise you.

1. Former Reds outfielder Jesse Winker is struggling with the Mariners.

Nothing that Jesse Winker did in 2021 would indicate the struggles we've seen from him in 2022. Winker and Suárez were both dealt to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Justin Dunn, Jake Fraley, and two minor league pitchers. At the moment, it appears as though the Reds might actually come out on top.

Winker is hitting just .208/.319/.303 with four home runs and has a wRC+ of 90. According to FanGraphs, Winker is worth -0.3 fWAR. I've got to be honest, I'm shocked at those numbers.

Last season, Winker went to his very first All-Star Game. Though an intercostal injury shut him down for the final month of the season, Winker finished his 2021 campaign with 24 homers, 71 RBIs, and a wRC+ of 148.

Jesse Winker's salary for 2022 has yet to be determined, but it was assumed the left fielder would be making in the ballpark of $7M this season. Did the Reds actually fleece the Mariners in this deal? That seems to be a stretch, but Winker's struggles are severely handicapping Seattle this season.

Winker was thought to be a key piece in the Seattle Mariners' pursuit of the postseason in 2022. Instead, the M's are in fourth-place in the AL West and will have to leapfrog several teams to make a run at the Wild Card.

2. Former Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart is struggling with the Tigers.

The Cincinnati Reds made the decision last fall to cut ties with Tucker Barnhart. While the return from the Detroit Tigers amounted to little more than a minor league utility infielder, there was no way the Reds were going to pay Barnhart $7.5M to be Tyler Stephenson's backup.

Instead, the Reds traded Barnhart to the Motor City shortly after the 2021 season ended. Barnhart had won two Gold Gloves while squatting behind the plate in Cincinnati, but his first year in Detroit has not been what many thought it would be.

The Tigers are in fourth-place in the AL Central even after adding the likes of Barnhart, Javier Baez, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Austin Meadows during the offseason. Barnhart is looked at as the Tigers' starting catcher, but the 31-year-old has an OPS of just .545.

Barnhart has yet to hit a home runs since joining the Detroit Tigers. While Barnhart has always been more of a glove-first type of player, his wRC+ is sitting at just 59 this season according to FanGraphs.

Defensively, Tucker Barnhart has seen a decline as well. Barnhart's pitch framing has taken a hit and he's accounted for -4 defensive runs saved. Barnhart hasn't seen numbers like that since 2018. Things just aren't clicking for Barnhart in Detroit this season.

3. Former Reds pitcher Amir Garrett is struggling with the Royals.

In one of the oddest trades of the offseason, the Cincinnati Reds shipped Amir Garrett to Kansas City and in return received veteran left-handed starting pitcher Mike Minor. Minor has been injured throughout most of the season, but when he has been on the mound, the 34-year-old has struggled.

But it's been about the same type of season for AG except without the injuries. Garrett is 1-1 on the season in 18 appearances out of the KC bullpen. Garrett has 18 strikeouts and 13 walks in 14.2 innings of work.

You read that right. AG has an impressive 28.1% strikeout-rate, but an absolutely appalling walk-rate of 20.3%. For context, the only player on the Cincinnati Reds 40-man roster with a higher walk-rate is right-handed rookie Daniel Duarte who's only appeared in three games this season.

This is a disturbing trend for Amir Garrett, and most likely one of the biggest reasons that Cincinnati felt comfortable parting ways with the southpaw. In 2021, Garrett's walk-rate 13.5%; a relatively large increase from his 10.5% walk-rate in 2020.

While the Cincinnati Reds bullpen is downright awful this season, it doesn't appear as though Amir Garrett would be helping their cause.

Next. 3 offseason misses that hurt the Reds playoff chances. dark

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