Raisel Iglesias is staying in the Arizona Fall League rather than make the trip to Puerto Rico where he was originally scheduled to pitch. He now has four appearances in Arizona, all that were one inning stints. The right hander has yet to allow a hit or a run while walking two batters and striking out three. Walt Jocketty has been impressed with what he has seen so far. The biggest news though is that he stands by the fact that the Reds plan to use him as a starter.
“Right now, we’re trying to build him up, because he hasn’t pitched competitively in over a year,” Jocketty said. “We’re trying to build his innings up and his arm strength up so he can prepare himself to come to Spring Training as a starter.”
That is a key thing to note, unlike what John Fay noted late in September, though not attributing it to anyone, that the Reds had planned on using Iglesias as a reliever. That may still be possible, but it’s nice to see that the team, for now, is sticking with the plan to keep him as a starter.
The Cincinnati Reds have a decent sized investment in Iglesias and while there is a chance he could earn his contract as a reliever, it’s much tougher to do because relievers simply don’t throw enough innings compared to starters. It’s also a place where the Reds will need good depth at given that Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Mat Latos and Alfredo Simon are all free agents after the 2015 season and Tony Cingrani and Homer Bailey both ended the 2014 year on the disabled list.
With only Cingrani and Bailey locked up beyond the 2015 season Iglesias should be battling for a rotation spot in 2016, if not sooner. While the Reds have good options in the minors at the higher levels that will also be in the mix with Robert Stephenson, Michael Lorenzen, Jon Moscot, Ben Lively and possibly a few others by that time, having more options is always a good bet when it comes to starting pitching.