The Cincinnati Reds had a decision to make after Wednesday afternoon’s loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hunter Greene, currently on the 15-day injured list with a strained right groin, was named the probable pitcher for Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs. With the roster set at 13 pitchers, the Reds front office was going to have to decide which pitcher would go to the minor leagues to make room for Greene. That moved turned out to be to send right-handed reliever Lyon Richardson back to Triple-A.
There weren’t a lot of choices available to Cincinnati as only three relievers even had options available. All three of those pitchers have been getting the job done this season, too. Along with Richardson, the Reds could have optioned Graham Ashcraft or Luis Mey. No one else could have been sent to the minor leagues without being placed on waivers first.
For Lyon Richardson it’s got to be a tough pill to swallow. The 25-year-old rookie has pitched in 10 games this season and has allowed just two earned runs. That’s a 1.32 ERA. He does have five walks, but two of those walks have been intentional walks. For those wondering, Richardson has not allowed any inherited runners to score this season – but he also hasn’t had to come into a game with any runners on base.
It’s always better to have to make a tough decision like this than to know immediately which four guys should be sent down because of a lack of performance. That probably doesn’t make a guy like Richardson feel much better, though, because he did everything that was asked of him and then some and he gets a big pay cut and has to head back to the minor leagues as a result of the entire thing.
He will likely return later this season, and probably sooner rather than later given the general health history of pitchers. But for now he’ll head back to Louisville and try to keep his outstanding performance going.
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