Dan Straily looked like he was having a career year for the Cincinnati Reds.
The 27-year-old right-hander had a respectable 3.15 ERA after a seven-inning start on June 11. It was his 11th start of the year.
But then Dan Straily turned back into the pitcher who was waived before landing with the Reds.
Straily surrendered 10 earned runs in 10.1 innings over his last two starts before toeing the rubber Monday night.
Straily made matters worse. He was clubbed for seven earned runs in 3.2 innings. His ERA now stands at a bloated 4.38.
Virtually all of the trade value that Straily built is now lost. The Reds no longer have the urgency to pitch Straily as an emergency starter, now that injured Reds’ starters have returned.
The non-contending Reds may be content to continue to throw Straily every fifth day. The team could just whistle away the summer. Or the Reds could promote another starter who figures into the team’s plans beyond a dreadful 2016 season.
Several starting pitchers failed miserably for the Reds this year. Jon Moscot, Daniel Wright, Tim Melville and Alfredo Simon all crumbled. Last year, Josh Smith and Keyvius Sampson bombed in their chances to carve out a rotation spot.
Both Smith and Sampson are performing better this year. Smith has turned out to be one of the few bright spots in a battered Reds’ bullpen.
The Reds have Robert Stephenson available to promote. The 23-year-old rookie made two starts with the Reds earlier this year before being sent back down to the minors.
Stephenson looms large in the Reds’ future rotation plans. The Reds, however, may opt to string him out in the minors for awhile longer to limit his major league service time this year.
But at this point, Straily looks like he’s best suited for middle relief for the rest of the year if he sticks on the roster that long.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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