Reds looking to add pitching at trade deadline

The Reds are baseball’s hottest team. After knocking off the Rockies 8-6 Tuesday evening, Cincinnati has reeled off 10 consecutive wins to push a season-high four games over .500. Their 39-35 record has them atop a wide open NL Central, half a game up on the Brewers.

Cincinnati’s surprising hot streak comes as teams are beginning to weigh their approaches to the upcoming trade deadline. Reds general manager Nick Krall met with reporters before Tuesday's game and suggested they’re trending towards adding to the MLB roster.

“We’re in first place. We’re looking to win,” Krall said when asked if the team was planning to add at the deadline (relayed by Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). 

Unsurprisingly, the GM pointed to the pitching staff — both the rotation and bullpen — as an area where they could try to improve (via Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer).

The Reds’ midseason turnaround has been driven in large part by an influx of position players from the farm system. Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain have hit the ground running after midseason debuts. 

Fellow rookie Spencer Steer, who reached the majors last September, has somewhat quietly put together an excellent .278/.361/.475 showing while bouncing around the corner positions. Holdovers Jonathan India, T.J. Friedl and Jake Fraley are all having strong years.

Rather suddenly, Cincinnati finds itself with a surplus of hitting talent. They designated Wil Myers — their highest-paid free agent pickup of last offseason — for assignment Tuesday afternoon rather than create room for him on the roster to return from the injured list. 

Corner infield prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand would likely have made his MLB debut for a number of teams by now thanks to a .348/.421/.687 showing in Triple-A. With Steer, India, McLain, De La Cruz and Joey Votto around the infield, the Reds don’t have the MLB playing time for Encarnacion-Strand at the moment.

Over the past month, only the Giants and Braves have scored more runs than Cincinnati. It’s a young lineup but one that’s firing on all cylinders. Perhaps injuries or a few slumps will open a clear need on the position player side within the next month, but there aren’t any obvious holes in the lineup right now.

The pitching staff is another story. Cincinnati entered the season with a top-heavy rotation reliant on second-year arms Nick Lodolo, Hunter Greene and Graham Aschraft. All three are presently on the injured list. Ashcraft should be back this week, but he has an ERA pushing 7.00 over 13 starts. Greene will miss at least the next two weeks; Lodolo is out into August.

Rookie left-hander Andrew Abbott has carried over a breakout upper minors showing to toss 17 2/3 scoreless innings to kick off his MLB career. While he’s obviously a very promising pitcher, he has all of three big league appearances and is already the club’s best healthy starter. 

Offseason signee Luke Weaver has an ERA above 6.00 and is struggling mightily to keep the ball in the yard. Brandon Williamson has a 5.40 ERA over his first seven starts. Ben Lively has acquitted himself well at the back of the staff, but he’s a journeyman who didn’t start a single MLB game between 2019-22.

Even if Greene joins Ashcraft in making a quick return from the IL, the Reds need rotation help if they’re to fight for a division title. Cincinnati’s bullpen has been a little more reliable. They entered play Tuesday ranked 10th in ERA (3.73), although they’re just 22nd in strikeout rate (22.6%).

Alexis Díaz has been almost untouchable in the ninth inning. There’s room for help bridging the gap to Díaz, with Lucas Sims, Ian Gibaut, Derek Law and Alex Young representing David Bell’s highest-leverage setup arms. Young is the only left-hander in the current group, so another southpaw could be on the wishlist.

Krall predictably didn’t delve into specific targets. Whether the Reds would seriously vie for a top impending free agent trade candidate (i.e. Lucas Giolito or old friend Aroldis Chapman) during a season in which they’re surprise contenders isn’t clear. 

Perhaps the front office will prioritize players with multiple years of control, simultaneously trying to support this year’s club while adding to future rosters that’ll enter seasons with higher expectations than the 2023 team did.

How the team performs over the next six weeks could determine how much the front office is willing to push in young talent. That Krall is openly positioning the team as a buyer in late June is a testament to how quickly things have looked upwards. 

The GM has already suggested there’s room on the books to take on some money for the stretch run, a sentiment he repeated this evening. It’s an exciting time in Cincinnati, one that looks to have changed the deadline trajectory for a team that seemed to be a seller just a few weeks ago.