Photo: Doug Gray
Earlier today we speculated why the Cincinnati Reds had not yet made a move to fill the spot on the roster vacated by Rhett Lowder, who is heading to the injured list but hasn’t actually been moved there yet. It seems that the answer was that they were working on signing free agent pitcher Chris Paddack, which they now have an agreement with according to Charlie Goldsmith of Fox19 in Cincinnati.
Paddack is a free agent right now because he was released by the Miami Marlins after he was designated for assignment and cleared waivers. The 30-year-old went 0-5 with a 7.63 ERA for the Marlins. Over his 30.2 innings he gave up 41 hits, hit a batter, walked 10, allowed six home runs, and struck out 27 of the 146 batters he faced.
It’s tough to say something positive about his performance. Of course that’s also why he’s available – his performance was so bad that he got released. And it’s not like it was a ton better last season, either. His ERA was 5.35 in 158.0 innings between his time with Minnesota and Detroit.
After joining the Tigers in the second half his ERA was 6.32 and he allowed 14 home runs in just 47.0 innings. That means over his last 77.2 innings he’s given up 20 home runs. That’s not going to inspire much confidence as he now gets to pitch his home games at Great American Ball Park.
Paddack doesn’t strike batters out, but he does limit the walks. I guess that’s something. But what Paddack is right now is healthy. And for the Reds that matters because they may not have another pitcher on their 40-man roster who is currently both healthy and capable of pitching four innings. They need someone to be the 5th starter in their rotation this week and it seems that they have more faith in Paddack being able to do more than the players in their rotation down in Louisville.
You can see the career stats for Chris Paddack here.
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