The Cincinnati Reds have made a roster move prior to the game tonight in New York against the Mets. They’ve recalled reliever Matt Bowman and optioned outfielder Phillip Ervin back to Triple-A Louisville.
With the bullpen likely having several pitchers unavailable tonight, the Reds needed to bring an arm up. That led to Matt Bowman getting the call. With the Louisville Bats this season he’s thrown 15.1 innings with a 2.93 ERA. He’s been a ground ball machine, generating a 60% ground ball rate in that time. He’s also missed plenty of bats (22.7% K-rate), though his walk rate is higher than you would like to see (13.6%).
The move is likely short term, just to help get the team through the series in New York. When Nick Senzel arrives on Friday, it’s likely going to be Bowman that is sent back to the minors to make room for him. With Phillip Ervin going down today, it leaves the Reds bench short. For Ervin, his stay in Cincinnati lasted just a week after coming up to take the roster spot vacated by Matt Kemp after he injured himself running into a wall. He was hitting .200/.385/.400 in his 13 plate appearances this season with the Reds.