The Reds and right-hander Buck Farmer are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Farmer was with the Angels on a minor league deal but was released a couple of weeks ago, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He will presumably report to Triple-A Louisville in the future but Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Farmer will report to the Arizona Complex League for now.
Farmer, 34, is a familiar face for the Reds and their fans. He pitched for Cincinnati from 2022 to 2024, generally producing solid results. He logged 193 innings over those three seasons with a 3.68 earned run average, 24% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate.
Things haven’t gone as smoothly here in 2025. He has been stuck in Triple-A, having signed minor league deals with Atlanta and the Angels, getting released from both. Between those two organizations, he has tossed 16 2/3 innings with an 8.64 ERA. There appears to be lots of bad luck in there, however, with a .423 batting average on balls in play and 50.6% strand rate. His 21.7% strikeout rate is around average, though his 13.3% walk rate is on the high side. His 4.61 FIP on the year isn’t an outstanding number but suggests his ERA isn’t sustainably atrocious.
In the past month, the Reds have lost Graham Ashcraft and Ian Gibaut to the injured list, subtracting a couple of arms from their bullpen mix. Additionally, starters Hunter Greene and Wade Miley hit the IL in June, putting more pressure on the pitching staff more broadly. Farmer will try to get into a nice groove so that he can perhaps be the next man up when the club needs a fresh arm.
Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images