The Cincinnati Reds made the Pierce Johnson signing official today after he passed his physical. When that became official the Reds needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for him and that spot came at the expense of right-handed reliever Yosver Zulueta, who was designated for assignment.
At the end of spring training in 2024 the Toronto Blue Jays designated Zulueta for assignment and the Reds picked him up. They would send him to Triple-A to begin the season and he spent the first three months with Louisville before being called up for his big league debut on June 25th of 2024. He pitched 3.0 innings that day against the Pittsburgh Pirates and allowed one run while walking two batters and picking up four strikeouts. He was sent back down after that outing, but was called back up four different times the rest of the season as he went back-and-forth from MLB to Triple-A. He finished that season with 16.1 innings pitched, a 4.96 ERA, and 20 strikeouts for Cincinnati. He threw an additional 54.0 innings with Louisville to go along with a 3.83 ERA.
In 2025 it was a similar story in terms of his usage. Yosver Zulueta would spend most of his time on the mound with the Bats in Triple-A, but he made seven appearances with the Reds spread out over three different call ups. While he found success with Louisville, posting a 3.28 ERA in 60.1 innings to go along with 78 strikeouts, he struggled in his limited time with the Reds. He gave up five runs in 7.1 innings and walked four batters with five strikeouts in MLB during the season. You can see the career stats for Yosver Zulueta here.
Zulueta has been designated for assignment before but he’s never cleared waivers and been outrighted. So if he clears waivers he would remain with the Reds organization as long as they chose to outright him to the minor leagues and not just give him his release.
About The Author
