The Reds have signed veteran reliever Chasen Shreve to a minor league contract, according to the transaction log on MLB.com. He has been assigned to the Triple-A Louisville Bats.
Shreve agreed to a minor league deal with the Tigers this offseason and made the major league roster out of spring training. He made 47 appearances for the club before being DFA’d, pitching to a 4.79 ERA in 41 1/3 innings pitched. Despite his high ERA, he posted a 3.66 SIERA and the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career. Even more impressive, his 33.9% chase rate ranks in the 92nd percentile of MLB pitchers, per Baseball Savant. Nevertheless, he was designated for assignment to make room for Will Vest on the Tigers’ 26-man roster. Detroit is still on the hook for Shreve’s salary, so Cincinnati will only have to pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends on the MLB roster.
The Reds will be the seventh organization Shreve has played for since he was drafted by the Braves in 2010. He will report to Triple-A, but the southpaw will serve as valuable depth for the major league club. With Reiver Sanmartin out for the season, the Reds only have two left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster: Alex Young and Sam Moll. Young has pitched well this year, putting up a 2.96 ERA in 53 games, while Moll has done excellent work since he was acquired from the Athletics at the trade deadline, pitching to a 2.35 ERA in his first seven appearances. Still, Cincinnati will be glad to have some veteran depth at Triple-A. Since Shreve was acquired before the September 1 deadline, he will be eligible for the Reds’ postseason roster should the team make the playoffs.
The Reds bullpen has struggled over the past month, with a 4.85 ERA and 0.0 FanGraphs WAR in 27 games. They have blown four saves in 13 chances and lost seven of 11 decisions in that time. As the Reds compete for the NL Central crown (or a Wild Card berth), they’ll hope to see their bullpen return to its first-half form. Over the team’s first 95 games, Reds relievers posted a 3.86 ERA and ranked sixth in baseball with 3.5 fWAR.