Luke Maile was a part of the Cleveland Guardians’ playoff run during the 2022 season and now he’s returning home.
Maile signed a one-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, filling the backup catcher role behind starter Tyler Stephenson. Maile, a Covington Catholic product, has drawn positive reviews for his defense throughout his seven-year career and becomes the Reds’ first free agent signing of the winter.
The Reds didn’t receive much production from their backup catchers last season, but it’s an area the club wanted to address with a pitching staff that could trend even younger during another rebuilding season.
Maile, who will turn 32 in February, hit .221 in a career-high 76 games this year with three homers, 10 doubles and 17 RBI. The Reds will be his sixth organization since he was taken in the eighth round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.
He’s never played a big-league game inside of Great American Ball Park, but he made one start against his hometown team in 2017.
The Reds parted with their backup catching depth at the beginning of the offseason when they needed to create space on their 40-man roster for players who ended the season on the 60-day injured list. Austin Romine, Aramis Garcia and Michael Papierski are free agents. Mark Kolozsvary was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles.
Rookie starters Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene often complimented Romine at the end of the season for his veteran influence on them. Maile has worked with a wide variety of pitchers, and has playoff experience with Cleveland (2022) and Milwaukee (2021).
The Reds had conversations about the backup catcher job with Tucker Barnhart, who spent eight seasons on the team, but MLB.com reported Barnhart was searching for a starting catching opportunity.
Stephenson has resumed baseball activities, including swinging a bat, after he broke his collarbone in July. Stephenson, 26, was limited to 50 games in his first year as the club’s primary catcher, but he showed how much he could impact the lineup with a .319 batting average, six homers, nine doubles and 35 RBI. In a 100-loss season, the Reds had a 22-24 record in games started by Stephenson.
Source link
