The Cincinnati Reds' shuffling of their minor league pitchers continued Thursday with the promotion of pitchers Ryan Dennick from the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos to the Triple-A Louisville Bats and Carlos Contrera from the advanced-A Bakersfield Blaze to Pensacola.
The move comes two days after 2011 first round pick Robert Stephenson was promoted from the low-A Dayton Dragons to Bakersfield.
Also joining Pensacola is Parker Frazier, a pitcher acquired this week by the Reds from Colorado in exchange for Armando Galarraga.
More on the latest moves comes via the Blue Wahoos:
Reds RHP prospect and 40-man roster member, Carlos Contreras, joins the Blue Wahoos starting rotation as the result of LHP Ryan Dennick's promotion to Triple-A Lousiville. Contreras, currently the No. 13 prospect in the Reds system according to Baseball America, has dazzled scouts with his upper 90's fastball and earned himself a spot in the 2013 Futures Game at Citi Field in New York over the weekend.
Contreras has been used frequently as a reliever in seasons past, but has been exclusively a starter with Bakersfield this season. In 18 starts with the Blaze, he's worked 90 innings and struck out 96 batters while walking just 41. He pitched in 49 games, all in relief, last year between Dayton and Bakersfield and led all Reds minor leaguers with 20 saves in 24 tries. He was selected as an organizational All-Star by MiLB.com following his 2012 campaign.
Dennick has been the lone lefty in the Blue Wahoos rotation all season. He compiled a 5-10 record with a 3.55 ERA over 19 outings. His 104 innings pitched this season ties him with Josh Smith for the team lead. The lefty fanned 66 and walked just 26 on the season before his promotion.
The Blue Wahoos have added another hurler, Parker Frazier, a former 8th round pick of the Colorado Rockies in 2007. Parker entered the season as the Rockies No. 30 prospect on Baseball America's list. Frazier had spent most of this season with Double-A Tulsa where he compiled an ERA of 2.57 in 16 outings, including a start. He has also appeared in 9 games with Triple-A Colorado Springs. Parker was acquired by the Reds in exchange for Triple-A pitcher Armando Galarraga.
RHP Brian Pearl has been placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. He has appeared in four games since returning from the disabled list in early July. On the year he's 3-0 with a 4.58 ERA in 17 relief outings.
