When the Cincinnati Reds traded for Cody Reed back in 2015, it was in the middle of a breakout year for the left-handed pitcher. The former 2nd round pick had always shown the stuff, but he had struggled some with consistency in finding the strikezone. In 2013 and 2014 he posted walk rates of 7.0 and 3.9 batters per-9-innings pitched. During the 2015 season that dropped all the way down to 2.6, and his strikeout rate jumped up along with that.
In 2016 the walk rate went up a bit, but the difference wasn’t to the point that it was a big concern. His time in the Major Leagues that season, though, didn’t go well. The Reds decided that they needed to make some changes with Cody Reed’s mechanics to help him hide what was coming to the plate a little bit better.
That helped lead to a 2017 season that saw a walk rate jump way up. In the Major Leagues he walked 19 batters in 17.2 innings. In Triple-A, he had success coming in the ERA department, posting a 3.55 mark. But Cody Reed also walked 5.2 batters per-9-innings pitched. That was not going to continue to allow him to post that low of an ERA, especially if he moved up to the Major Leagues and continued to walk batters at that kind of rate.
This season has seen Cody Reed spend most of the year in Louisville, though he does have four games and 5.0 innings pitched with the Reds. Between the two stops he had thrown 53.0 innings and walked 18 batters. That’s a walk rate of just 3.1 batters per-9-innings. His ERA is still higher than you’d think given his walk and strikeout rates, both of which are strong. He’s trending back in the right direction, though.
Last night may have been his best showing of the season, even with four earned runs on his line in the box score. When he exited the game with two outs in the 8th inning he had been charged with just two runs, but two inherited runners came in to score before the inning was over. Cody Reed would strike out 11 batters and walk just one. He was working well with his fastball in the 94-95 MPH range on the night, and his slider was the best it’s been in quite a while.
The one area where Cody Reed has still seen struggles this season, though, is allowing home runs. He’s given up 10 home runs in his 53.0 innings this season between his two stops. That’s a HR/9 rate of 1.70. For context, the 2018 National League average HR/9 is 1.07.
The walk rate improvement is a big step forward for Cody Reed. Especially since he’s been able to maintain a strong strikeout rate while doing so. The next area he will need to find some consistency with is keeping the baseball in the ballpark. And maybe he has, somewhat. He’s allowed eight home runs in Triple-A, and one in the Major Leagues this season. Of those eight in Triple-A for Louisville, FOUR of them came on one day. Perhaps that day things simply weren’t working, and it’s skewing things overall.