NEW YORK –– On Wednesday, after Cincinnati Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos learned of the three additions the team had made to its bullpen, he started reaching out to some of the other players.
As the trades became official, Castellanos began asking his teammates whether they had heard the news. There was an energy building around the team in the middle of the week, and it carried through Friday’s trade deadline.
On Wednesday, the Reds traded for three relief pitchers: Luis Cessa, Justin Wilson and Mychal Givens. Even though Cincinnati didn’t make another move before Friday’s 4 p.m. deadline, Castellanos stressed that he felt “very, very good” about the moves the Reds had made.
“This sends such a good message to everybody,” Castellanos said. “To the fan base, to the players. We really see that and we appreciate the front office and ownership for that.”
At the trade deadline, the Reds were seven games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and five games behind the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card race. According to Baseball Reference, the Reds have a 15.5% chance to make the playoffs.
On top of that, the Brewers traded for All-Star infielder Eduardo Escobar this week, and the Padres added All-Star infielder Adam Frazier as well as a reliever in Daniel Hudson who has a 2.20 ERA.
