As we touched on earlier this week, the Cincinnati Reds are coming off of a year in which they had one of the better rotations in baseball. They also had a pretty good bullpen, too. The two groups combined for the Reds to have the best ERA+ in all of Major League Baseball last season (ERA+ is ERA adjusted for park factors). Cincinnati’s bullpen is going to look quite a bit different in 2026 than it did in 2025, though, unlike the rotation.
The offseason began with the loss of several guys declaring for free agency. Nick Martinez, Emilio Pagan, Brent Suter, and Scott Barlow all became free agents. The Reds would wind up re-signing Pagan, but the other three signed with other teams. Among the bullpen staples from 2025, along with Pagan, Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft are returning. No one else who topped 40.0 innings as a reliever is coming back. While Cincinnati seems to at least be flirting with the idea of a 6-man rotation, until we see it I will fall on the side of “I don’t believe it” and go with that it’s likely the team is going to have an 8-man bullpen to go with their 5-man rotation.
While three guys are returning from last year’s group that were there all year, the Reds went out and signed several free agents to add in there, too. Left-handed pitchers Brock Burke and Caleb Ferguson signed with the club, as did right-handed pitcher Pierce Johnson. Add those three guys in and it seems to be a safe bet that six spots in the bullpen are locked in as long as everyone remains healthy.
The wild card situation here is a starter to reliever move. There’s only one spot in the rotation open, but there’s a large group of pitchers vying for that spot. It’s possible that someone from the group of Chase Burns, Rhett Lowder, Brandon Williamson, Julian Aguiar, or Jose Franco could slide into the bullpen as a multi-inning guy who could remain as a starting pitching option down the line if that need arises (and it almost certainly will). You can read about all of those guys from the starting pitcher’s position breakdown here.
Beyond those guys, though, there are a whole lot of others looking to win a spot, too. Connor Phillips, Luis Mey, Sam Moll, and Zach Maxwell are guys who are on the 40-man roster and saw action in the big leagues with Cincinnati last year in the bullpen. Then there are guys that are non-roster invites – Tejay Antone, Yunior Marte, Lyon Richardson, Hagen Danner, Darren McCaughan, Anthony Misiewicz, and two guys that are currently injured in Joel Valdez and Carson Spiers. That’s somewhere between 10-12 relievers, and then a few starting pitchers who could all be competing for two spots. The reliever group may only be competing for one spot.
Let’s start off by noting that the following players are out of options: Brock Burke, Pierce Johnson, Tony Santillan, and Sam Moll. For three of those guys it doesn’t matter much – they were going to make the team regardless of their option status.
With Sam Moll, though, that’s not the case. The 34-year-old lefty reliever did spend time in the big leagues last season with the Reds, but things didn’t go well. He threw 18.1 innings and had an ERA of 6.38. His time in Triple-A didn’t go a ton better as he threw 27.0 innings and had an ERA of 5.00. He did spent some time early in the year shoulder impingement, but eight days after heading to the injured list he was sent out on rehab assignment and remained active the rest of the year. Given his performance in 2025 and the fact that Cincinnati went out and signed two left-handed relievers, a lot of things are working against Moll to grab a spot in the bullpen and he’s going to have to pitch very well to be in the conversation at the end of March.
Connor Phillips may have somewhat of an inside track. Last year he pitched in 21 games for the Reds after spending the first month of the year on the injured list before starting his season in the minor leagues. In the middle of the season he spent 10 days with Cincinnati but had a disaster of an outing on June 30th where he gave up four runs in 2.0 innings in Boston. He didn’t return to the Reds until August 18th, but once he got back he dominated, giving up just four runs in 20.0 innings through the rest of the year (1.80 ERA) while striking out 28 batters and walking eight hitters.
When it comes to his stuff, he matches up fairly well with anyone in the bullpen for the Reds. Last year he averaged nearly 98 MPH on his fastball. In his first outing of the spring he topped out at 98.8 MPH. He’s not the hardest thrower among the group, but he throws a lot harder than most guys do around the league. Phillips’ slider was a big weapon last year, too, holding hitters to a .053 average and a .158 slugging against it in the big leagues last year.
Luis Mey and Zach Maxwell are the other two pure relievers on the 40-man roster vying for a spot. Both guys throw 102+ MPH at times with their fastball. And both guys have long established issues with consistently throwing strikes. When the two of them are on, they can dominate. But they also just haven’t shown that they can be counted on to be any sort of consistent when it comes to throwing strikes.
Mey threw in 23 games in 2025 for Cincinnati and had a 3.43 ERA. On the surface, that’s good. But that also came with 17 walks and a hit batter, leading to a WHIP of 1.62. In his first nine games he walked just three of the 30 batters he faced, covering 8.1 innings for the Reds. In the other 14 games he pitched in MLB last season he walked 14 and hit a batter in just 12.2 innings and struck out nine of the 66 hitters he faced during that time.
Maxwell didn’t pitch as much with Cincinnati, spending most of his season in Triple-A. He was called up during the final week of August and pitched in eight games. But he didn’t make an appearance in the final two weeks of the season as the Reds were fighting every day for a spot in the playoffs, likely showing just how little confidence the team had in trusting him in tight games.
During his time on the mound he allowed three home runs and five runs overall in his 10.0 innings. He only walked four batters in that time and did strike out 13. In his 49.2 innings in Triple-A with Louisville he had a 4.17 ERA with 32 walks and 59 strikeout.
Tejay Antone is one of several guys who is a non-roster invitee who has spent time in the big leagues in the past. He’s attempting to become just the third player to return to the big leagues after undergoing three Tommy John surgeries (Jason Isringhausen – a Reds minor leaguer for half of a season in 2010 – and Jonny Venters are the others).
Antone kind of came out of nowhere when it comes to being impactful on the big league level. He had a good season as a starter in the minor leagues in 2019, but he showed up to spring training in 2020 throwing several MPH harder than he had the year before. The next year he showed up throwing even harder. Through his first 36 games in the big leagues, Antone had a 2.48 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 69.0 innings. But in that final game he tore his UCL and had to undergo surgery, missing the entire 2022 season. He also missed the first half and then some of the 2023 season, but did get back to the majors in September for a handful of games. In 2024 he broke camp with the Reds, but in his third outing he had another arm injury as he tore his flexor mass tendon and his UCL.
After missing the rest of 2024 he would also miss much of 2025, not returning to the mound until mid-August. He would pitch in High-A Dayton, Double-A Chattanooga, and Triple-A Louisville on what was basically some rehab appearances. Antone is not the guy pumping 96-98 MPH fastballs that he was in 2021. But in his first outing this spring he was throwing 93-95 and showed off a cutter, slider, and curveball that all featured movement that was a little different from those pitches he had thrown in the past. Antone is attempting to re-invent himself once again in 2026. In his first and to this point only outing of the spring he fired off a perfect inning with a strikeout, throwing 14 pitches to get his three outs.
The 2025 season got out to a strong start for Lyon Richardson. He joined the big league club in the final week of April and over the next two months he threw 24.1 innings across 20 games for the Reds, posting a 1.85 ERA while giving up one home run, walking eight (and three were intentional), and he struck out 20 batters. But on June 28th he gave up three runs in 0.2 innings and things just never recovered for him from there.
Starting that day he threw 12.1 innings over the next five weeks for Cincinnati and had an ERA of 8.03 where he walked 12 batters and had just 10 strikeouts. He was sent back to Triple-A in early August and things didn’t go all that well early on as he gave up six runs with six walks in 5.0 innings during his first three games. After that he allowed just three runs while throwing 12.2 innings for the Bats and walking four batters with 17 strikeouts. He was designated for assignment just after Christmas and went unclaimed. Richardson has struggled in his two outings this spring, giving up five hits, walking a batter, and recording no strikeouts in 2.0 innings.
A former starter, Richardson has a wide assortment of offerings he throws. He’s also got plenty of velocity, averaging nearly 96 MPH last year. But he’s going to need to show well moving forward this spring and look more like the guy he was in the first half of 2025 if he’s going to have any shot of making the team out of spring training.
Yunior Marte spent parts of 2022-2024 in the big leagues with the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies. He struggled in all three seasons, posting an ERA of 5.64 in his 113.1 combined innings out of the bullpen for the two teams. But in 2025 he headed over to Japan to pitch and in 35 games with Chunichi he posted a 1.95 ERA with 11 walks and 25 strikeouts. A month ago he signed with the Reds on a minor league deal.
The now 31-year-old Marte, like many pitchers in today’s game, throws hard. In his first outing of the spring he topped out at 98.1 MPH with his fastball. He’s reached 100 MPH in the past. He’s not been a big strikeout guy in the past, and he’s had a few more walks than you want to see but nothing egregious in that department, while also getting an above-average number of ground balls. But hitters have simply been able to hit the ball well against him in the big leagues to this point, posting a .279/.361/.441 line when he’s been on the mound and those numbers have gotten worse with each season he saw action against MLB hitters.
Darren McCaughan has spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues, but none of those seasons saw him spend much time in the big leagues. A former starter, he made five starts in 2024 that helped him throw 42.0 innings for the Guardians and Marlins, making up the bulk of his 61.1 innings as a big leaguer. During that time he’s posted an ERA of 6.02 with 23 walks, 13 home runs allowed, and 46 strikeouts. He’ll turn 30 in three weeks, isn’t on the 40-man, and doesn’t have a track record of success in the big leagues. The chances he has are very slim.
Anthony Misiewicz is in a similar boat as McCaughan is. The 31-year-old lefty has spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues but he’s only thrown 120.1 innings in that time. He’s been a bit more successful, posting a 4.86 ERA in that time while walking 42 and striking out 119. Still, since the 2023 season he’s only thrown 16.2 big league innings and his ERA has been 7.56 while walking 11 batters with 14 strikeouts. Over the past two years his ERA in Triple-A has been just under 4.00 while striking out 99 batters in 88.1 innings. The lack of success in the big leagues, his non 40-man roster status, and his age just are not working in his favor and it would likely take an incredible spring along with multiple other guys just performing very poorly for him to break camp and head to Cincinnati.
Hagen Danner has recorded one out in the big leagues in his career and it came back in 2023. He retired the only batter he faced for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Chicago Cubs. Last season he spent the year in Triple-A with Tacoma where he had an ERA of 5.59. The year before that he was better in Triple-A, though he was pitching in Buffalo then, posting a 3.15 ERA in 34.1 innings. Coming off of a down season, the 27-year-old with little big league experience has a lot working against him.
Joel Valdez was a minor league Rule 5 pick by Cincinnati two Decembers ago. Last season he was dominant in Double-A for Chattanooga, but struggled in limited action after being promoted late in the year in Triple-A. The leftyhas a 2.34 ERA last year in his 57.2 innings between the two stops to go along with 25 walks, just two home runs allowed, and 67 strikeouts. He’s currently shut down while dealing with a shoulder injury. Given all of the competition he’s probably not going to be competing for a spot even if he can return to the mound before the end of spring training.
And then there’s Carson Spiers. He’s injured and won’t be pitching this spring. He underwent elbow surgery last year after tearing his UCL. Spiers will not be making the team.
Most teams head into the spring without knowing the final guy or two of their bullpen. That’s where the Reds sit now, and they’ve got plenty of guys to get looks at and see where they are, and start to sort through. Some guys may have an edge right now, but it’s still February. Things can change over the next four weeks before the team has to head to Cincinnati to open up the regular season. There are plenty of things to consider, too. You’ve got multiple high upside options, but those also are low floor guys, too (as far as big leaguers are concerned). There are lefties to look at. You’ve got hard throwers, you’ve got guys who throw everything except the kitchen sink, you’ve got ground ball guys, and you’ve got a few guys trying to come back with different stuff than before.
In the end, a lot of this group is probably going to find themselves in the big leagues at some point this year. Teams use a lot of pitchers throughout the course of 162 games, and every year it seems like it’s more than the one before it because injuries just continue to pile up with how players are used these days.
