3 pitchers the Reds should target at the trade deadline to relieve their overworked bullpen

2. Reds should target Athletics RHP Trevor May at the MLB trade deadline.

If there's one team looking to sell at the MLB trade deadline, it's the Oakland Athletics. The A's will be looking to move anything that's not nailed down prior to August 1st, and Trevor May could be a nice pickup on behalf of the Cincinnati Reds.

The veteran's strikeout-rate is down considerably from year's past and walks have been a problem this season. In fact, May has as many strikeouts (23) as he does free passes. That's usually not a good combination.

But May carries salary of little less than $3-million for the remainder of the 2023 season, so the right-hander would fit nicely into the Reds payroll. May is 2-4 with a 4.73 ERA, but has performed much better over his last several outings.

Since the beginning of June, May has appeared in 17 games and recorded nine saves. The 33-year-old owns a 2.87 ERA during that span and 15 punch outs in 15.2 innings pitched.

This is a low-risk trade that really shouldn't cost the Reds much in terms of prospect capital. Just like Cincinnati last August, Oakland will be looking to rid themselves of any veteran on an expiring deal, even if it nets them little more than a lottery ticket.

3. Reds should target White Sox RHP Lance Lynn at the MLB trade deadline.

I'm going to keep pounding this drum until the Chicago White Sox figure out how they plan to approach the MLB trade deadline. One of the best ways to help a tired bullpen to to subtract the number of innings they're required to cover. Enter Lance Lynn.

While not the same pitcher he was in the past, Lynn is still an effective starter who can give David Bell six or seven innings each time he takes the hill. Is he going to give up home runs? Yes, but that's the norm for almost every pitcher who toes the rubber at Great American Ball Park.

Adding Lynn would buy the Reds time until Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo return from the IL. It also gives Nick Krall a contingency plan in the even that one of the young starters reaches an innings limit. While it's been said that Andrew Abbott has no restrictions heading into the second-half of his rookie season, that remains to be seen.

By adding Lynn to the starting rotation, Bell could move Luke Weaver to the bullpen. For all the struggles that Weaver has incurred as a member of the rotation, adding the right-hander to the bullpen would give Cincinnati a pitcher who can cover multiple innings.

If the Cincinnati Reds entered the month of September with Lance Lynn, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft, and Andrew Abbott in the rotation, fans would have to feel pretty good.

The bullpen could then feature Lucas Sims, Alexis Diaz, Ian Gibaut, Buck Farmer, Tejay Antone, Alex Young, Vladimir Gutierrez, and Fernando Cruz. Pitchers like Luke Weaver, Brandon Williamson, Ben Lively, Daniel Duarte, Tony Santillan, and Levi Stoudt would all be available as well.