Reds bullpen carousel makes one unemployed veteran impossible to ignore

The Cincinnati Reds have been yo-yo'ing relief pitchers up and down I-71 for the last week. As Cincinnati radio host Lance McAllister correctly pointed out, the Reds executed 18 transactions since last Friday, and 12 of them involved relievers.

The Reds placed Graham Ashcraft and Pierce Johnson on the injured list. They then added a trio relievers — Lyon Richardson, Brandon Leibrandt, and Yunior Marté — to the active roster, only to designate all three for assignment just days later. Little-known right-hander Zach McCambley made his Major League debut, and Kyle Nicolas was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for cash considerations.

This list doesn't even include Emilio Pagán's absence. The Reds closer was placed on the 15-day IL last month, and isn't expected to return until at least the end of June. To make matters worse, Pagán's stand-in, Tony Santillan, has forgotten how to locate his pitches. The right-hander has been utterly unreliable in the ninth inning, and has likely lost the trust of his manager at this point.

With all this as a backdrop, one has to ask, why haven't the Reds reached out to veteran left-hander Andrew Chafin. The Ohio native signed a minor-league deal with Cincinnati before the season began, and while he opted out of his contract, he's yet to find a new organization to call home.

Should the Reds reach out to veteran free agent Andrew Chafin?

To be sure, Chafin wasn't exactly carving up hitters down at Triple-A Louisville earlier this year. His 0.96 ERA was masking some pretty obvious flaws. The southpaw's FIP was sitting at 5.15 and he was walking almost as many batters as he was striking out.

On the plus side, Chafin posted an impressive 50% ground ball rate, which is something that always plays well at Great American Ball Park. He also kept the home runs to a minimum, and allowed just one ball to leave the yard during his time with the Louisville Bats.

Chafin obviously isn't going to solve all the Reds' problems, but it's far more likely that Terry Francona would trust an arm like his in key situations versus one of McCambley, Zach Maxwell, Connor Phillips, or Luis Mey. The Reds should certainly kick the tires on a potential reunion.

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