The Cincinnati Reds have released 2012 1st round draft pick Nick Travieso, first reported by Mike Scherting of the Billings Gazette. The right-handed pitcher was rehabbing with the Billings Mustangs this season. He injured his shoulder and missed all of the 2017 and 2018 seasons after shoulder surgery, and didn’t pitch in a game until June of this season.
The 25-year-old made three appearances for Billings. He struggled in his debut, walking three batters in 0.2 innings at home against Great Falls on the 18th. He returned to the mound on June 22nd and pitched well, allowing just 1 hit in 2.1 innings with three strikeouts on the road against Idaho Falls. On June 25th he took the mound for the last time. Against Missoula he didn’t record an out, allowing a hit, walking a batter, and having an error committed while he was on the mound.
Prior to his shoulder injury, back in 2016, Nick Travieso was throwing 92-94 and touching higher as a starter. But the velocity didn’t quite return after the injury. In his debut he was sitting 85-87 MPH, and touched 88 once. In Idaho Falls, their broadcaster noted he was throwing 86-88 and that he touched 90 MPH once. It was in Missoula where there was some concerning numbers as their broadcasters noted that he was throwing “in the low 80’s” for the short period of time that he was on the mound. I haven’t been able to confirm the velocity description from the Missoula announcer, but within that same game, Nick Lodolo started and was throwing 94-95 according to the same announcer.
Pitching sucks because so many guys get injured. While we’ve come a very long way on fixing elbows in the last 20-25 years, shoulders are still very messy. Most guys aren’t able to return to where they were after shoulder surgery – it’s just a very different animal that is far more complicated of a fix.