Reds should skip Luis Cessa's next start and move him to the bullpen

Luis Cessa is not a bad pitcher. But the Cincinnati Reds can no longer afford to trot Cessa out every fifth day as a starter.

One might argue that Cessa's start against the Philadelphia Phillies last month, an outing that saw the right-hander allow 11 runs on 14 hits, was his worst. But Cessa wasn't much better on Wednesday afternoon in San Diego.

Cessa fell behind in the count early and often and was lifted after just 3.1 innings. Cessa's 8.7-percent strikeout-rate is the worst in the league among hurler with 20 or more innings pitched according to FanGraphs.

Reds should skip Luis Cessa's next start and move him to the bullpen.

Luis Cessa was given a chance over the last month-plus of the 2022 season to prove that he had what it takes to be a starting pitcher. The results were mixed, but overall Cessa showed himself to be a serviceable starter.

But Cessa has more walks than strikeouts so far this season, and far too often his outings have resulted in losses. Outside of his lone outing in Oakland last week, the Cincinnati Reds have lost every game in which Cessa has started.

The Reds schedule allows for Cessa's next start to be skipped. With a day off on Thursday, the Reds have Hunter Greene going to the bump on Friday to begin a three-game set with the Chicago White Sox. He'll be followed by Nick Lodolo and Luke Weaver.

Cincinnati then has Monday off and will be visited by the New York Mets on Tuesday. It's likely that Graham Ashcraft will start Game 1 of that three-game series. Having the normal four-days rest, Greene could then toe the rubber for Game 2 with Lodolo getting the ball for the series finale on Thursday.

The Cincinnati Reds then begin a road trip in which Weaver could start Game 1 of three against the Miami Marlins. David Bell would then need to make a decision about who would get the ball for Game 2 next Saturday at LoanDepot Park in South Beach.

Believe it or not, Luis Cessa's numbers would suggest that he'd make the Cincinnati bullpen stronger. Again, Cessa is not a bad pitcher, but he can no longer be part of the Cincinnati Reds starting rotation.