Levi Stoudt, not Andrew Abbott, should replace Luis Cessa in the Reds rotation

Luis Cessa's move to the bullpen is official. After beginning the season as part of the Cincinnati Reds starting rotation, Cessa made his first appearance as a reliever against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon.

The Reds have the trio of Luke Weaver, Hunter Greene, and Nick Lodolo slated to toe the rubber during the upcoming series against the New York Mets. Buck Showalter will counter with Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Kodai Senga against Cincinnati this week.

But after the Reds three game series against the Mets, fans will be interested to see who takes Cessa's spot in the rotation. While many throughout Reds Country want to see Andrew Abbott, it's time to give Levi Stoudt another opportunity.

Levi Stoudt, not Andrew Abbott, should replace Luis Cessa in the Reds rotation.

Levi Stoudt made his major league debut earlier this season, but the results were not so good. To be fair to Stoudt, he was thrust into action against the best team in baseball who was riding a ridiculously hot-hitting streak at the time.

The Tampa Bay Rays touched up the rookie to the tune of seven runs on nine hits while striking out three and walking just one. Hey, that's better than Graham Ashcraft's performance on Sunday.

All kidding aside, it's time fot Stoudt to get another opportunity to showcase his talents. Stoudt was part of the trade with the Seattle Mariners that sent Luis Castillo to the Emerald City last summer. In his six starts at Triple-A Louisville, the free pass has haunted the right-hander.

Stoudt has 19 walks to 18 punch outs for the Louisville Bats this season. That's certainly not the best way to get noticed - not in a good way, at least. But Stoudt is already part of the Cincinnati Reds 40-man roster, and the team needs to evaluate what they have with him.

Rather than letting Levi Stoudt continue to slug it out down on the farm, the Reds need to call up the 25-year-old and see if he has what it takes to be a major league starter. If not, the team can do the same thing they did with Tony Santillan, Vladimir Gutierrez, and Reiver Sanmartin and transition Stoudt into a reliever.

Andrew Abbott's time is coming, as is Brandon Williamson's. But Abbott has just three starts at Triple-A and isn't part of Cincinnati's 40-man roster. Williamson has the type of repertoire that fits thee mold of a major league starter, but his command has been extremely erratic this season.

Given where the Cincinnati Reds are at this point in the season, there's no to chase wins by adding Abbott. This season is more about finding out what they have waiting in the wings. Does Levi Stoudt has what it take to be an effective starting pitcher? There's no time like the present to find that out.