3 Reds trade deadline targets failing with their new teams

3. Reds trade target Michael Lorenzen is failing with his new team.

Now this one might surprise some people. Most baseball fans have this image of Michael Lorenzen celebrating on the mound with his new Philadelphia Phillies teammates after tossing a no-hitter in his first game in front of the home fans at Citizen's Bank Park.

Now, that was a great moment for Lorenzen, and most fans throughout Reds Country are probably ecstatic that the right-hander was able to achieve such an outstanding moment. However, since that night, things haven't been the same.

In Lorenzen's first two games with the Phillies, he went 2-0, pitched a total of 17 innings, allowed just two runs, and owned a sparkling 1.06 ERA. But, since his no-hitter on August 9th, Lorenzen has started five games and allowed 37 hits over 26 innings pitched. Lorenzen's ERA since his no-hitter sits at 7.96.

Things have gotten so bad that according to The Athletic (subscription required), the Phillies are actually considering moving Mikey Biceps to the bullpen. The Phillies had been using a six-man rotation of late and opponents have an OPS of .997.

There were a lot of Cincinnati Reds fans who wanted to see Michael Lorenzen return to the Queen City before the trade deadline, but the Phillies ultimately gave the Detroit Tigers the best offer.

So yes, the Cincinnati Reds could have pulled the trigger on a potential trade at the deadline and acquired a starter for the stretch run. But it's been well documented that the price tag, for even replacement-level pitching, was exceedingly high. The Reds didn't want to lose some of their top prospects, and instead stood pat. They're the better for it.