The Reds announced that they have selected infielder/outfielder Tyler Callihan and right-hander Luis Mey to their 40-man roster, protecting both players from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft. The 40-man roster count climbs to 39.
Callihan, 25 in June, was a third-round pick of the Reds in 2019. Due to the pandemic and Tommy John surgery in 2021, he didn’t play much in the years following his draft. He is coming off a season in which he posted some pretty strong numbers. He got into 73 games this year, 69 of those in Double-A and four in Triple-A. In that time, he slashed .276/.359/.429 for a wRC+ of 133.
Given his small amount of experience at the top minor league level, he will probably head back to that level next year. He has experience at the three non-shortstop infield positions and left field as well, so he can give the club some depth at a variety of spots around the diamond.
Mey, 23, has great stuff but hasn’t really been able to harness it yet. Over the past four years, he has thrown 123 2/3 innings with a 4.66 earned run average. He struck out 26.1% of batters faced in that time and got plenty of ground balls but also walked 17.5% of batters faced.
He has yet to reach Triple-A and has just 19 Double-A appearances. Given that and his lack of control, he seems to be a bit of a long-term project for the Reds. If they can develop him in the coming years, he could factor into their big league bullpen down the line.