The Cincinnati Reds have signed right-handed reliever Brad Boxberger and assigned him to Triple-A Louisville. The righty had spent his 2019 season with both the Kansas City Royals organization, as well as the Washington Nationals organization.
Boxberger began the year in the Major Leagues with the Royals. The first few weeks of the season were rough for him, posting a 9.64 ERA with 7 walks and 10 strikeouts in 9.1 innings through April 19th. But he settled in from there. Sort of. Over the next two months he threw 17.1 innings for Kansas City and posted a 3.12 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 10 walks. He didn’t allow a home run and held opposing hitters to a .175/.293/.206 line. But he was released by the Royals on July 1st despite that performance.
Less than two weeks later he signed with the Nationals on a minor league deal and they sent him all the way back to Double-A. He dominated there, in limited action, from mid-July through the start of August. He threw 8.2 innings over eight appearances and allowed just one run while striking out 11 batters with three walks. But just like the Royals, Washington released him on August 4th.
The 31-year-old signed with the Cincinnati Reds earlier today and has now been assigned to the Triple-A Louisville Bats where he will join their bullpen. Earlier this season with the Royals in the big leagues he was averaging 90-91 MPH on his fastball depending on which month you wanted to look at. He also mixed in a slider in the mid-80’s and a change up around 78-79 MPH.
Alfredo Rodriguez promoted to Triple-A
With the Reds designating Blake Trahan for assignment yesterday to make room for Kevin Gausman on the 40-man roster, another infielder was needed for Triple-A Louisville. The Bats will be getting a call up from Double-A to fill the need, getting Alfredo Rodriguez from Chattanooga. The 25-year-old from Cuba is having his best season as a professional, by far. In 104 games for the Lookouts he’s hit .286/.325/.347 with 22 walks, 62 strikeouts, 18 doubles, 2 triples, and a home run.