The Reds acquired outfielder Connor Joe from the Padres for minor league reliever Andrew Moore and money concerns, the groups introduced. Cincinnati transferred Tyler Callihan to the 60-day injured listing to create a spot on the 40-man roster. San Diego’s roster depend falls to 38.
Joe, a San Diego native who attended USD, signed along with his hometown staff on a $1MM contract throughout the offseason. He was anticipated to work because the right-handed half of a left subject platoon with Jason Heyward. The Padres tabbed speedster Brandon Lockridge for that position as a substitute, optioning Joe to Triple-A El Paso to start the season. He was recalled in mid-April and went hitless in 9 at-bats. He drew one stroll whereas putting out six occasions.
The Friars optioned Joe again out final week. He made 16 appearances with El Paso, hitting .267/.405/.350 by way of 74 journeys to the dish. He has but to hit a house run however has stolen 4 bases and brought extra walks (13) than strikeouts (10). He ought to have a greater path to huge league at-bats in Cincinnati. Rece Hinds and Will Benson, every of whom had been recalled from Triple-A Louisville this week, are working as backup outfielders. Beginning proper fielder Jake Fraley has missed 4 straight video games on account of calf soreness.
Cincinnati did welcome righty-hitting outfielder Austin Hays again from the injured listing this afternoon. Their major nook outfielders, Fraley and Gavin Lux, every hit from the left facet. Joe had a productive .251/.353/.418 slash in 363 plate appearances in opposition to lefty pitching with the Pirates between 2023-24. He didn’t hit a lot with out the platoon benefit (.230/.314/.382 in 525 PAs), however he’s an inexpensive bench/platoon participant.
That is Joe’s second minor league possibility 12 months. The Reds can shuttle him forwards and backwards between Cincinnati and Louisville for this season and subsequent if he holds his 40-man roster spot for that lengthy. He’s nearing 4 years of service time and will likely be eligible for arbitration for a minimum of two extra years if he sticks with the membership.
Moore, who is just not the previous Mariners MLB pitcher of the identical identify, is a 25-year-old reliever. He was, nevertheless, drafted by Seattle in 2021. The Mariners included him alongside Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo as a part of the 2022 deadline deal for Luis Castillo. Moore has spent the previous few seasons working his means as much as Double-A. He combines huge strikeout charges with astronomical stroll tallies. He didn’t rank amongst Baseball America’s write-up of Cincinnati’s high 30 prospects, although Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him twenty second within the Reds’ system simply final week.
Longenhagen wrote that Moore’s fastball/slider mixture seemed like that of a setup man at his peak, although his velocity has been down early this season. He’d have to dramatically enhance his management to pitch above a low-leverage position in both case. Moore walked upwards of 17% of opponents throughout 46 1/3 Double-A innings final 12 months. That resulted in a 4.47 ERA regardless of a superb 32.3% strikeout fee. He has surrendered 5 runs (4 earned) on three hits and eight walks with 12 punchouts by way of his first 8 2/3 frames this season.
As for Callihan, his IL switch was an inevitability. He broke his left arm in a nasty collision with the left subject wall at Truist Park on Monday. He promptly underwent surgical procedure that’ll forestall him from doing any sort of baseball actions for six to eight weeks. He most likely gained’t have the ability to resume his rookie season till August or September on the earliest.
Picture courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Photographs.
