Jerry Lai – USA Today Sports
2016 is going to be a rebuilding year for the Cincinnati Reds. The team is selling 2016 as an exciting year to watch a young team play. Most of the roster will be made up of young players and fresh prospects. Two players who shouldn’t be included in that mix are pitchers Robert Stephenson and Cody Reed.
Stephenson is the top ranked pitcher in the Reds’ minor league system and has been since he was drafted in the first round in 2011. He didn’t start his pro career until the following spring which has slowed his progression. He finally reached Triple-A for 11 starts in 2015. Many Reds fans took this as a sign that he would be in the opening day rotation in 2016, but it shouldn’t be.
Reed, meanwhile, was one of three prospects traded to the Reds from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Johnny Cueto. Reed was a second-round pick for the Royals and has passed John Lamb, another pitcher from the Cueto deal, to become a top 10 prospect for the Reds. Reed reached Double-A in 2015, making a total of 23 starts across three different minor league teams.
Now the Reds are in the situation where they have more question marks in their starting rotation than starting pitchers. The obvious temptation would be to start the season with both of their young stars in the making with the big league team. This would be a mistake.
Beyond the obvious issue of starting the clock for both prospects to end up in free agency, there is also the issue of health. Stephenson has shown the ability to go deep into games when he is on. Reed has demonstrated the ability to dominate batters at the lower levels. The temptation to ride these two into high pitch counts would be immense when only Anthony DeSclafani has shown the ability to go through a complete season at the major league level of all of the projected starting pitchers.
Stephenson and Reed need to be healthy in 2018 when the Reds look likely to be in position to compete again. There is nothing additional to be gained from bringing these two up before the start of the 2017 season. They can each approach 30 starts and 200 innings at Louisville while having the back up of a minor league bullpen ready to help them out if they hit a rough patch. In the majors they may need to stay in games to save the pen. This is not how to prepare future aces for success.
The Reds should put the duo at the front of the Louisville rotation and let them work on things like fastball placement and pitch selection. Having them start in the Reds’ rotation gives the fans something to look forward to in 2017. After the dismal 2016 season that is approaching, the fans will be grateful for something to look forward to.
Nick Vorholt is a writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Cincinnati Reds.
