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Chris O’Grady spent his entire 2015 season with the Los Angeles Angels organization. He joined the Cincinnati Reds as a Rule 5 draft selection in December.
The season could have started out better for the left handed reliever as O’Grady allowed a run on three hits and two walks in two innings on opening night for the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. He would rebound well over the remained of the week, tossing 1.1 perfect innings with three strikeouts. He would go nearly a week without pitching before throwing in back-to-back games on the 20th and 21st, combining for 1.2 shutout innings. The final week of the season would see two different 2.0 innings appearances, both of the shutout variety to close out the month of April. The run he allowed in the first game of the year would be the only one he gave up in 9.0 innings on the month, posting a 1.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP with three walks and nine strikeouts.
May began just like April did. The lefty allowed two runs in the first game of the month, giving up three hits in an inning of work. O’Grady only made two more appearances in the first half of the month, tossing a combined 2.1 shutout innings. In the third week of May he made three appearances, tossing another 2.1 shutout frames. In the last week of May, only an unearned run would harm the ledger as he tossed 4.2 otherwise shutout innings with six strikeouts, to finish the month with earned runs being allowed only in that first appearance of the month. In total, he posted a 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings with two walks and nine strikeouts.
June jumped out to a strong start with two perfect 2.0 inning appearances in the first week with a combined seven strikeouts. The next week didn’t go as smooth as he allowed an earned run in two of his three appearances. He would only take the mound one time in the third week, recording the final out on the 19th to pick up a save against Tulsa. that was followed up by a paid of shutout innings on the 22nd and 25th before struggling on the 27th, allowing two runs in 0.2 innings. He was promoted to Triple-A following that game, but it was his last overall appearance of the month. O’Grady posted a 3.18 ERA in 11.2 innings with no walks and 13 strikeouts to go with a 0.44 WHIP and three home runs allowed.
The left hander made his Triple-A debut in 2015 with Salt Lake on the 1st of July, tossing a shutout 13th inning. That was followed up with 2.0 hitless innings against El Paso with a walk and two strikeouts on the 4th. His next outing also came against El Paso, who broke through this time as they scored a run in an inning of work. He would only pitch once in the second week of July, tossing a hitless frame with a walk on the 9th. With more than a week off he returned on the 17th and was rusty, allowing two runs in 0.1 innings against Reno. On the 22nd he tossed 0.1 hitless innings against Tacoma and followed up with 2.0 perfect frames with four strikeouts against El Paso. He was sent back to Double-A following that outing. In the final four days of the month he would make three appearances and have some struggles, allowing three earned runs in 4.1 innings. On the month, split between the two stops he would post a 4.15 ERA in 13.0 innings with five walks and 12 strikeouts.
The first week of August would go well as he tossed 2.1 perfect innings between two games. The second week would be the exact opposite as he allowed four runs in his 3.0 combined innings over to games. Things rebounded well in the third week of August, tossing 1.1 innings and following up with 3.0 shutout innings on the 20th. On the 23rd O’Grady came out and tossed 2.0 perfect innings with four strikeouts, but ran into troubles in his final two appearances of the season, allowing four total runs in 2.1 innings. He would post a 5.14 ERA in 14.0 innings with four walks and 14 strikeouts in the final five weeks of the season.
His ERA would go up each month of the season, as he would battle consistency in short time frames, often allowing runs in back-to-back games (four times – accounting for eight games, after allowing a run in just 13 games). Overall he put up a strong season, posting a 3.28 ERA in 57.2 innings between two hitter friendly leagues in the Texas and Pacific Coast Leagues.
| Level | ERA | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP |
| AA | 3.31 | 49.0 | 42 | 5 | 10 | 47 | 1.06 |
| AAA | 3.12 | 8.2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1.04 |
Scouting Report
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Fastball | The pitch works in the 87-91 MPH range and he can locate it in the strikezone. It doesn’t move much, but picks up some movement across the zone because of his arm angle.
Change Up | It’s not a pitch he goes too often, but it works in the low 80’s and is a slightly below-average offering.
Curveball | It works in the mid-to-upper 70’s, but is an inconsistent offering that can be slurvy at times. It’s an average offering when he stays on top of it.
Cutter | The pitch works in the mid-80’s and is a solid offering that he mixes in well with his fastball.
Nothing really jumps out at you from Chris O’Grady. His stuff is average pretty much across the board. What he does do is throw strikes with multiple pitches. He’s had mixed success against lefties in the minor leagues over the years, but doesn’t profile well as a LOOGY because of an average at best breaking ball. His profile is more likely as the first option out of the bullpen in a non-long relief kind of role.
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