Predicting the Cincinnati Reds post-trade deadline starting rotation

Luis Castillo got his first start for his new team on Wednesday afternoon in the Bronx and Tyler Mahle will likely make his Minnesota Twins debut later this week. The Cincinnati Reds traded both starters before yesterday's deadline.

With Castillo now with the Mariners and Mahle with the Twins, the Reds have a couple holes to fill. David Bell could continue to roll with a six-man rotation or return to the standard five-man.

With the Reds two best starters now over in the American League, the young arms will be looking to establish themselves heading into the end of the season. While a few many have already secured a spot in next year's rotation, not every player should be feeling so immune.

Mike Minor will remain in the Reds starting rotation for now.

For the time being, Mike Minor will likely be run out every fifth day by Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell. Minor struggled severely during his first several starts, but has seen better days of late. However, the 34-year-old is still 1-7 with a 6.31 ERA in 10 starts on the season.

The long ball has victimized Minor all season. To date, the southpaw has allowed 15 home runs. Only once this season has Minor not allowed a home run, and ironically it was in Yankee Stadium back on July 13th.

Minor handles his business quite well the first time through an opposing team's batting order. Minor has allowed of just .633 to the first nine hitters of a ball game. But after that, the wheels come off. But the second time an opponents sets his sights on Minor, the left is allowing batters to post a 1.118 OPS-against. The third time through the order, he's allowing an OPS of 1.209. Yikes!

The best place for Mike Minor, other than the waiver wire, would be the Cincinnati Reds bullpen. We know that Minor is not going to be on next year's team, so he could be used to piggyback off one of the Reds younger starters in order to keep the pitch counts low and their arms fresher.