Cincinnati Reds Top Prospect Report - Cody Reed
How did the Cincinnati Reds’ top prospects do during the 2016 season?
While the Cincinnati Reds struggled to a 68-94 record, there is plenty of reason for hope in the future. The team is loaded with talented prospects across all of their minor-league teams, and many of those players started off with promising starts in their careers.
Let’s take a look at how the Reds’ top 10 prospects (per MLB Pipeline at the start of the season) performed as we head into the offseason.
Cody Reed (LHP)
2016 Stats (MLB/Triple-A):
Cincinnati: 0-7, 7.36 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 47.2 IP, 43 K, 19 BB
Louisville: 6-4, 3.08 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 73 IP, 65 K, 20 BB
Cody Reed had an interesting 2016. He was the crown jewel in the deal that sent Johnny Cueto to the Kansas City Royals at the 2015 trade deadline. He showed flashes of that and flashes of concern.
Early in the season Reed was dominating Triple-A Louisville. He had an ERA barely over 3 and a WHIP at 1.25. That made it look like he was ready to be promoted to Cincinnati.
When he got to Cincinnati, he looked like he should have stayed in Louisville. His WHIP exploded even though his walk and strikeout rate were similar to what he saw in the minors. His batting average against was awful in Cincinnati.
Cody Reed may not be ready to be a big league starter when 2017 begins, even if there is an opening in the rotation.
The splits between Cincinnati and Louisville from above are startling. When was the last time you saw a split like that when so many innings were involved? Robert Stephenson has a split somewhat similar to that, but even his is nowhere near that.
Reed hurt his arm in his first start after he returned to Louisville. Those splits make you wonder when the injury happened. More specifically was otin game two when his numbers took off and stayed up…
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The Reds need to hope he gets healthy for 2017. He needs some more seasoning in the minors. By 2018, though Reed needs to be ready to start every fifth day in Cincinnati. Brandon Finnegan was a true savior for the Reds’ rotation this season, being the only Reds pitcher to make every start.
Of the three pitchers that came over in the Cueto deal, Reed still looks most like a #1 starter. Finnegan may end up at the back end of the rotation. John Lamb injured his back again, so all hope may rest on Reed’s left arm.
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