The Reds have signed right-hander Ryan Meisinger to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts.
Meisinger, 29, was an 11th round selection of the Orioles in the 2015 draft and worked his way up to the majors with that club in 2018. He has 31 innings of major league experience to this point, spread between the Orioles, Cardinals and Cubs. He posted a 7.26 ERA in that time with a 21.7% strikeout rate, 13.8% walk rate and 37.6% ground ball rate.
Last year, Meisinger signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks but was released after posting a 6.14 ERA in 14 2/3 Triple-A innings. He then signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, registering a 7.06 ERA in 43 1/3 innings for them.
The righty hasn’t had much recent success but has decent Triple-A numbers in his career overall. Across parts of four seasons, he has a 3.37 ERA in 117 2/3 innings at that level, striking out 30.3% of batters faced while walking 9.1%.
The Reds have a bunch of relievers on the injured list right now, with Tejay Antone, Fernando Cruz, Casey Legumina, Reiver Sanmartin and Tony Santillan all out of action. Meisinger will look to position himself to get the call when a fresh arm is needed. If he gets a spot on the 40-man, he has a couple of options and less than a year of service time, meaning he would provide the Reds with a good deal of roster flexibility and cheap control.