Raisel Iglesias has far too electric stuff to remain in the Cincinnati Reds‘ bullpen for the long term.
The 26-year-old Cuban right-hander shifted to the bullpen after shoulder soreness landed him on the disabled list in April. He returned to action for the Reds on June 21. Since then, he’s given up just one earned run in eight appearances covering 16.1 innings. He’s struck out 18 over that span.
Iglesias threw just one inning once over his bullpen stint. He’s thrown at least two innings the other seven times. He’s proving that he is a great middle reliever. But the Reds are short-changing themselves if the best pitcher on the team isn’t used in the starting rotation.
The Reds signed Iglesias out of Cuba to a seven-year, $24-million deal in 2014. Iglesias can opt out of his deal once salary arbitration eligible. The Reds stand to gain by keeping Iglesias in the pen for now since starters command more than relievers in salary arbitration.
Iglesias made five starts to start the season before hitting the DL. Last year, he made 16 starts for the Reds and threw 95.1 innings in the bigs. He threw a total of 124.1 innings in 2015, including six Triple-A starts.
Iglesias is probably looking at an innings limit of 160 tops. He’s only thrown a total of 49.2 innings this year, including just five in the minors. His 16.1 innings for the Reds since his return from the DL covered a 20-game stretch. At that rate, Iglesias would throw just 57 more innings for the rest of the year, giving him just 106.2 for the year.
The Reds can keep Iglesias in the bullpen for another month. He’ll have to start at some point, however, to ratchet up his innings in preparation for next year.
Unless, of course, the Reds decide to let their best pitcher remain in the bullpen.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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