Cody Reed looked sharp at the outset of his spring training debut for the Cincinnati Reds. Reed was so sharp that it looked like he might be ready to bypass Triple-A altogether and jump straight to the big leagues.
It took Reed nine pitches to get three outs in his first inning of spring training work against the Cleveland Indians. He induced a pair of ground outs and struck out a batter on a curveball in a three-pitch at-bat.
Reed’s second inning of work didn’t go quite so well. He gave up a one-out single to Mike Napoli then hung a breaking ball that produced a run-scoring double. After a three-pitch strikeout for the second out, a hot shot off the glove of second baseman Jose Peraza allowed a second Indians’ run to cross the plate.
Reed faced six batters in the second inning and threw 23 pitches. Overall, he threw 32 pitches in two innings. He was dominating at times and showed the kind of command of his fastball and breaking balls that suggest Reed won’t require much more seasoning before he is ready to pitch in the majors.
Reed was acquired from the Kansas City Royals in the Johnny Cueto trade last year. He came to the Reds from the Royals with Brandon Finnegan and John Lamb.
Cueto will go down as one of the better pitchers to ever pitch for the Reds. Replacing him is impossible. But the development of a prospect like Reed into a front-end rotation starter would go a long way in softening the blow of losing Cueto to baseball’s big-market free agency system.
Reed will turn 23 years old in April. He was a second-round pick in 2013. Last year, Reed posted a 2.45 ERA in 145.2 minor league innings. He’s yet to pitch at Triple-A.
Given his command of his hard-breaking curveball and plus-fastball, Reed may not pitch too long in Triple-A if he continues to refine those pitches.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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