At all levels in the minor leagues, there was a lot of uncertainty among teams on how to handle pitching staffs to keep arms healthy.
There was no 2020 season. The 2021 season was delayed by a month. There were various approaches to how teams handled it. Some went with a six-man rotation. Some had strict low pitch counts. Some kept relatively normal operations.
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The Cincinnati Reds dealt with their share of pitching injuries last season, generally using a six-man rotation at Low-A Daytona and a five-man rotation at the other affiliates. The Reds had four minor-league pitchers throw more than 105 innings (Riley O’Brien, Carson Spiers, Graham Ashcraft and Hunter Greene) and none threw more than 113. By comparison, the Reds had five pitchers throw at least 135 innings in 2019.
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Preparing for a normal season this year – the minor-league season will start on time regardless of whether the Major League lockout continues – the Reds plan to implement a cautious approach with their minor-league pitchers.
“I’ll be honest with you,” Reds farm director Shawn Pender said, “I have greater concern probably this year about our pitching health than I did last year.”
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Returning from a season without minor-league games affected pitchers differently. Vladimir Gutierrez, who earned a spot in the big-league rotation, seemingly hit a wall in the final weeks of the season after throwing a combined 131 innings in the Majors and minors. Top prospect Nick Lodolo was shut down with a shoulder strain at the end of the season and Greene missed an August start because of irritation in his AC joint.
Injury concerns among Reds' pitchers
All the pitchers the Reds selected in the five-round 2020 MLB Draft, Christian Roa, Bryce Bonnin and Joe Boyle, spent more than a month on the injured list at the beginning of the 2021 season.
Pender’s concern, he said, is a potential letdown with arm health after pitchers gradually built their innings back up last year. The Reds have 30 pitchers at early minor-league camp, and only two are younger than 23 years old, which is by design.
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“On the amateur side, at least, you go watch a big-time prospect the first start, he’s really bringing it,” Pender said. “Then the next couple of starts, there is a little letdown. I worry a little bit about the year after a build-up year and two years after really not pitching. We’re trying to bring these guys along more slowly, and really work to build them up. That’s one of the reasons we’re trying to have a lot of our starters who are at upper levels here, so we give them more of an opportunity to build up properly under our watch as opposed to sending them directions about things we want them to do.”
How the Reds plan to prepare minor-league relievers
The Reds plan to build up many of their minor-league relievers for two- or three-inning stints during camp, so they’re prepared for short starts during the beginning of the season. Full minor league camp is scheduled to begin March 4 and minor-league games at complex backfields are scheduled to start March 17.
They’ll likely carry 16 or 17 pitchers at each minor-league level, Pender said, and put some relievers on the developmental list at each level where they can travel and pitch in simulated games. The relievers on the developmental list won’t be on the active roster, but they provide some cover if they need to fill innings in case of an injury.
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“In the past if we had an end-of-game bullpen guy, like the seventh, eighth or ninth inning guy, he was built up for one inning and then we used the first part of the season to let them build up to two if that’s how we wanted to use them,” Pender said. “The hope is if our starters need to be a little bit more cared for in a slower process, then we’re not going to just transfer the burden from a starter who leaves early to a bullpen guy who has to pick up more innings than he’s ready for.”
One of the purposes of early minor-league camp is to give some of the team’s top prospects exposure to big-league camp, so they’re ready for a potential invite to camp in subsequent seasons. Plus, it’s more personalized instruction with the organization’s minor-league coordinators.
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“A lot of guys are doing whatever it is, whether it's hitting or pitching, with an ‘at-home guru,’” Pender said. “We feel it's much better, safer, cleaner for us to have them. I think the game is evolving this way and I know that our organization is looking at it, if we can extend the timeline that we have with these guys, we're all going to be better for it.”
The other part of working more closely with prospects, of course, is finding ways to keep them healthy.
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