In a series of moves made by the Cincinnati Reds today, Kevin Shackelford has been called up from Triple-A Louisville. He’s taking the place of Austin Brice on the 25-man roster, as he was optioned to Triple-A. He will take the place of Jake Buchanan on the 40-man roster who was designated for assignment.
Kevin Shackelford is 28-years-old and has never pitched in the big leagues. The right handed reliever has spent the entire 2017 season with the Louisville Bats where he’s posted a 1.53 ERA in 35.1 innings with 15 walks and 46 strikeouts. Those numbers, however, don’t tell the story of just how good he’s been.
In April, while sporting a good 2.70 ERA, Kevin Shackelford was skating on thin ice. He walked nine batters with 11 strikeouts in 10.0 innings. He worked his way in and out of jams during the month. To keep being successful in keeping runs off of the board, he would have to improve. And improve he did.
Since the calendar flipped to May, Kevin Shackelford has been outstanding as the Louisville Bats closer. He’s pitched in 19 games and posted a 1.07 ERA. In those 25.1 innings he has walked just six batters and he’s struck out 35. He’s also watched his ground ball rate jump from 38% in April to 56% over the last two months.
Kevin Shackelford Scouting Report
While he is an older guy without any big league time, Kevin Shackelford isn’t lacking stuff. His fastball works in the 93-95 MPH range and he’ll touch higher every so often.
For his secondary offering he goes to a slider that works in the mid-to-upper 80’s (84-87 MPH). It’s a quality offering that can be above-average at times.
If he can continue to pound the strikezone like he has been doing for Louisville, and inducing groundballs at a high rate, he’ll likely continue to have success pitching in the big leagues.