Cody Reed has the stuff to be a front-end starter for the Cincinnati Reds.
But so far the results in his rookie campaign have been far from showing just how bright the future is for the 23-year-old left-hander.
Reed was roughed up once again in his eighth career start for the Reds. A brutal first inning put Reed in a bind for the rest of his start. Reed threw 36 pitches in the first and surrendered four earned runs.
The St. Louis Cardinals batted around against Reed in the first. He ran the count full to three hitters, walked one batter and hit one. He gave up four hard hit balls including two doubles, one a two-run scoring smash to the left-centerfield wall.
But after that dismal first inning, Reed showed better command of his pitches. He threw four more innings and gave up just one run on a homer. He was spared another run by a home run-robbing catch by right-fielder Scott Schebler.
Reed gave up four hits over his last four innings. He didn’t walk another batter. He threw 62 more pitches over the last four innings. Overall, he was charted with seven sinkers, 35 fastballs, 20 change-ups and 36 sliders in his 98-pitch effort.
Reed’s development is crucial for the Reds’ rotation of the future. The Reds are going to rely on Homer Bailey and Anthony DeSclafani to anchor the team’s rotation. After that, young pitchers like Reed, Robert Stephenson and Amir Garrett will battle it out with starters who could be relievers and vice-versa, like Raisel Iglesias, Dan Straily and Brandon Finnegan.
Reed is one of the three lefty starters the Reds acquired for Johnny Cueto. John Lamb and Finnegan are the other two. Lamb has made 24 starts in his two seasons with the Reds and has 6.17 ERA. Finnegan has a 4.60 ERA for the Reds covering 25 starts and two relief appearances.
So far none of the three are lessening the sting of losing a once-in-a-generation pitcher like Cueto.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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