Who will inevitably replace Vladimir Gutierrez in the Reds starting rotation?

Vladimir Gutierrez will take the hill today for the Cincinnati Reds, but it would appear as though his time in the major leagues may be running out.

Mike Minor, whom the Reds traded for this past offseason, began a rehab assignment last night at Triple-A Louisville. Unlike Minor's first outing in the minors this season, the left-hander was spotless over three innings of work.

Minor threw 31 pitches, 23 of which went for strikes. If all goes well, Minor is scheduled to appear in another rehab assignment on Sunday when the Louisville Bats take on the Toledo Mud Hens at Louisville Slugger Field.

Mike Minor will inevitably replace Vladimir Gutierrez in the Reds rotation.

The writing is on the wall; Vladimir Gutierrez will be optioned to Triple-A Louisville very soon. The question then becomes when will this happen? Unless Nick Lodolo comes off the IL sooner than Mike Minor, we're probably about two weeks away from that occurring.

Gutierrez has struggled mightily this season. After a productive start to his major league career that included some experts mentioning Gutierrez in the same breath as other contenders for the 2021 National League Rookie of the Year, the right-hander has fallen on face.

In Gutierrez's last 11 starts, the 26-year-old has failed to pick up a victory after going 9-6 to begin his major league career. Gutierrez is 0-7 with an ERA of 9.14 and the same number of strikeouts (28) as walks (28). Gutierrez has also allowed 10 home runs in those 11 starts.

Gutierrez will face a Milwaukee Brewers lineup today that teed off on him last week at American Family Field. Gutierrez allowed seven runs on eight hits over 4.1 innings while punching out only two batters. Gutierrez also walked two and allowed two home runs.

Injuries to the aforementioned Mike Minor and Nick Lodolo have kept Vladimir Gutierrez in the Cincinnati Reds starting rotation longer than he needed to be. Perhaps a trip to Triple-A will help the right-hander work out the kinks that have caused such a fall from grace.