Cincinnati Reds signed reliever Davis Daniel for 2026

The Cincinnati Reds have picked up another relief pitcher. This time around it’s right-handed pitcher Davis Daniel. He has signed a minor league deal with the club for 2026.

From 2023-2025 Davis Daniel spent time pitching for the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves organizations. He would pitch in Major League Baseball for both clubs during that time, covering a total of 52.2 innings. He made eight starts and four relief appearances during that time.

In 2023 he had a 2.19 ERA in three games, pitching 12.1 innings for the Angels. He walked nine and struck out nine during that time but was able to keep runners from coming around to score. In 2024 his control was much better as he walked just six batters in 30.1 innings and had 28 strikeouts, but his ERA jumped up to 6.23 as he allowed 39 hits and five home runs during his six appearances – all of which were starts. Last year he pitched 10.0 innings for Atlanta as he covered two starts and one relief appearance. The struggles to throw strikes returned as he handed out seven walks and hit a batter during that time frame and had an ERA of 5.40.

During his minor league career he had pitched very well through Double-A. Daniel posted a 2.34 ERA in his career as a minor league pitcher in rookie ball, Single-A, High-A, and Double-A. But he also only threw 119.0 total innings at all of those levels and after being drafted as a college senior in 2019 he didn’t even make his professional debut until he was a 23-year-old in 2021 (he would turn 24 in the middle of the season). With his age and performance he was fast tracked.

But then he got to Triple-A and the more advanced hitters gave him some trouble. He’s seen action at that level in all five years he’s been a professional, through in the first two years of his career that was just for 25.0 total innings. Still, he’s now thrown 346.2 innings in Triple-A and has a 5.48 ERA during that time. That’s actually higher than his career 5.13 ERA in the big leagues. You can see his career stats here.

Back in 2022 the Triple-A level began to have public pitch tracking data. That year Davis Daniel averaged 90.9 MPH with his fastball. The next season he suffered a shoulder injury in spring training and didn’t get back on the mound until August and only pitched in five games – though three were in the big leagues – but he averaged 92.5 MPH with his fastball during that time. His velocity dropped to 91.8 MPH in 2024. And last season it dropped again, this time to 90.3 MPH.

Along with his 4-seam fastball, Daniel also brings a slider and splitter to the table. He will also occasionally throw a curveball, but in 2025 he threw it less than 4% of the time. That was a career low in terms of usage. In 2024 he began to throw the splitter and has since stopped using a change up.

Davis Daniel