The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly going to call up Asher Wojciechowski from Triple-A Louisville. Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer had it first.
Apparently Asher Wojciechowski is in Cincinnati. Reds will have to make a 25-man and 40-man move
— Zach Buchanan (@ZachENQ) May 20, 2017
At this point there has been no corresponding roster move.
The right hander has pitched in the big leagues before, throwing 16.1 innings for Houston in 2015. Things didn’t go well in those five games as he posted a 7.16 ERA with seven walks and 16 strikeouts in that span.
Asher Wojciechowski has pitched very well for the Louisville Bats this season. He’s made five starts since signing with the Reds in April and posted a 1.40 ERA. In 25.2 innings he has walked just six batters and he has struck out 29 opposing hitters. While the innings total seems low for the number of starts, he was still working his way up to his pitch count when he first began to pitch. In his last two outings he’s thrown 6.0 innings on 87 and 90 total pitches.
Asher Wojciechowski Scouting Report
In his limited big league sample in 2015 with the Astros the righty was sitting in the 90-93 MPH range and touched 95 MPH. He also mixed in a cutter, slider and a change up.
With the Bats this year he’s throwing in the 92-94 MPH range. His slider is a quality offering when he’s able to locate it, which hasn’t been much of a problem so far this season. It’s his preferred go-to pitch. He will also go to his change up still, but it’s the third pitch he tends to go to. One thing to pay attention to, particularly when he’s pitching in Great American Ballpark, is the fly balls. Wojciechowski is an extreme fly ball pitcher. Over the last four seasons his ground ball rate is under 40% and it’s been 26% this season (small sample size caveat, of course).
Roster Moves
The Cincinnati Reds will need to make a 40-man roster move as well as a 25-man roster move. For the 40-man spot, while not announced yet, it would seem clear that it will be Nefi Ogando to the 60-day disabled list. He’s already missed nearly 50 days and his rehab stint was just shut down after experiencing shoulder problems. The move to get him on the 25-man roster is still seemingly unknown.