The Cincinnati Reds are bringing back an old friend, signing right-handed pitcher Tim Adleman to a minor league contract and assigning him to the alternate site in Louisville.
In 2016 and 2017 Tim Adleman spent time with the Reds at the big league level. He found success in 13 starts in 2016, posting a 4.00 ERA (107 ERA+) that spanned 69.2 innings. In 2017 things didn’t go quite as well as he posted a 5.52 ERA (81 ERA+) in 20 starts and 10 relief appearances while throwing 122.1 innings.
The Reds initially picked up Adleman out of independent league baseball in 2014 when he was already 26-years-old. But he found success in Double-A Pensacola in both 2014 and 2015, and was having success in Triple-A Louisville in 2016 when the organization turned to him for some innings at the big league level.
After the 2017 season with the Reds, Adleman signed with the Samsung Lions in the Korean Baseball Organization where he would make 31 starts, going 8-12 with a 5.05 ERA. In 2019 he returned to the US and pitched in both Double-A and Triple-A in the Tigers organization after a brief stint with Long Island in the Atlantic League.
The 33-year-old will provide some depth in both Triple-A to help eat some innings, and could provide that if necessary at the big league level, too. In a season of unknowns when it comes to how pitchers workloads will be handled as the season goes on, the old adage that you can never have too much pitching probably holds more true than ever before.