Former Reds pitcher Luis Cessa joins Mike Moustakas on Rockies roster

The Cincinnati Reds went into the 2023 season with the idea of Luis Cessa occupying a spot in the starting rotation. Cessa even left the World Baseball Classic early in order to improve his chance to secure said spot.

The Reds went with a starting rotation of Cessa, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft, and Connor Overton to begin the season. Here we are a little more than six weeks into the season, and the Reds rotation looks nothing like it did on Opening Day.

Lodolo and Overton are both on the IL and have been replaced by Luke Weaver and Ben Lively. Cessa, rather than making a return to the bullpen, was oddly designated for assignment and eventually released by the Reds just a couple of weeks ago. The right-hander, however, has a new home.

Former Reds pitcher Luis Cessa joins Mike Moustakas on Rockies roster.

The Colorado Rockies have signed Luis Cessa to a minor league contract and assigned the former New York Yankees pitcher to Triple-A Albuquerque. According to MLB.com's Thomas Harding, Cessa will head to the Rockies Arizona complex before joining the Isotopes.

Whether Cessa will become part of the Rockies bullpen or join the starting rotation has yet to be determined. However, one has to assume that after Cessa lobbied so hard to be a starter in Cincinnati, he was looking for a similar opportunity in free agency.

Cessa was, in a word, awful to begin the 2023 season. The 31-year-old owned a 9.00 ERA and struck out only 11 batters in 26 innings of work with the Cincinnati Reds. Cessa made nine appears this season with eight starts.

Luis Cessa now joins former teammates Mike Moustakas and Chase Anderson. Moustakas who joined the Colorado Rockies after being released during the offseason is hitting just .239 with his new ball club, with one of his two home runs coming off his former team. Anderson just joined Colorado last week and pitched against Cincinnati in his first start with the Rockies.

The Rockies pitching staff has been ravaged by injuries this season, so it's no surprise that Luis Cessa was able to find a land spot there. However, Coors Field might not offer much relief to the struggling Cessa.