Zac Gallen could be Reds' ideal bounce-back signing if one hurdle can be cleared

The Cincinnati Reds' quest to upgrade their starting rotation should have the club leaving no stone unturned this offseason. While on paper it's back-of-the-rotation starters that the Reds are presumably looking for, the failure to live up to expectations from Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo could (and should) have the team searching for hurlers with a bit more upside.

Pitchers who can slot in the top three spots of a rotation tend to get paid big bucks on the free-agent market. That's a problem for Cincinnati; a team that has many needs beyond adding another starter to the mix. Therefore, the play might be to look at a guy who has fallen on hard times but is looking to restore his past greatness in a new setting.

That's where Zac Gallen comes in. From 2021 through 2024, Gallen was arguably a top-30 starter in baseball. During that span, his 3.41 ERA ranked 28th, his 13.6 fWAR ranked 11th, and his 663⅓ innings pitched were the 16th most in the majors.

The right-hander hit free agency last offseason, but the 2025 campaign wasn't kind to him. Gallen made 33 starts and logged 192 innings, but posted a 4.83 ERA. While he was considerably stronger in the second half, the Arizona Diamondbacks hit him with the qualifying offer, essentially killing his market. Shortly before spring training, he returned to the desert on a one-year, $22 million deal that essentially equaled the qualifying offer amount.

Unfortunately, things went even worse for the 31-year-old in 2026, with him posting a 6.07 ERA and getting bumped from the starting rotation over the season's final weeks. Gallen missed significant time with elbow inflammation this year, so there's some hope that after an offseason to heal, he can finally bounce back to his pre-2025 form.

In the meantime, he won't be looking at nearly as big a payday, with Spotrac projecting him to sign a one-year, $7.3 million deal. That would be a reasonable amount for the Reds to spend on a guy who they hope could, at minimum, be an innings eater in the back end of the rotation. There's just one problem: Cincinnati might want him, but he might not want to play in Cincinnati.

Zac Gallen would be a good fit for the Reds, but he has qualms about pitching in Great American Ball Park

During an appearance with teammate Merrill Kelly on the Pardon My Take Podcast back in 2025, the pair of Arizona hurlers took aim at Great American Ball Park, and the mound in particular.

"Cincinnati's tough," Kelly said. "Cincinnati's pretty brutal. The ball flies, and the mound, I know they're supposed to have regulations on how high the mound is, but whatever they're doing, they're cheating for sure."

Gallen called it out more specifically, saying, "The mound is so flat," and then adding, "If you think about it, they could then try to acquire the pitchers that pitch best on that type of mound."

So, it doesn't sound like Gallen is one who enjoys throwing off a "flatter" mound, but is it true that he's found it difficult to pitch in Cincy? He's only made four starts in his career at GABP, but in that time he pitched 24⅓ innings and put up a 3.70 ERA. Batters only hit .198 against him, though he did give up five home runs.

That last part might be the sticking point with Gallen. When he was right earlier in his career, he did a good job suppressing homers. However, when he began to struggle in 2025, his HR/9 rose to 1.45, and this year it was an even more egregious 1.62.

Beggars can't be choosers, though, and that applies to both sides of this potential union. The Reds might not be able to afford someone with the upside of Gallen, who comes with more certainty, and Gallen might not have many suitors left knocking at his door after back-to-back disappointing seasons. If these two are alone at the dance, they might as well pair up and see what happens.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow