The Cincinnati Reds have recalled infielder/outfielder Josh VanMeter from Triple-A Louisville. At least for now, he’s taking the spot on the Reds roster of left-handed reliever Zach Duke who was added to the injured list with a calf strain.
For Josh VanMeter, he was optioned back to Triple-A over the weekend and didn’t play in a game with the Louisville Bats, who were in Buffalo. After destroying the International League to the tune of .336/.431/.736 with 13 home runs in 30 games for the Bats, the Reds called up VanMeter in the first week of May. He got into eight games with the Reds before being sent back down. He went 2-14 with a steal, RBI, and a walk.
For Zach Duke, May has gone better than April – at least on the surface. His ERA in March/April was 11.25 in 8.0 innings with 6 walks and 4 strikeouts. IN May his ERA is 1.17 in 7.2 innings. That’s vastly different. But he’s walked 5 batters with 5 strikeouts. The difference in runs matters, but he hasn’t really looked much different. He was likely just a tad unlucky in April, and he’s probably been very lucky in May thus far.
What’s interesting, is that at least at this point, is that the Reds will be going with a 7-man bullpen for now. This is the first time all year that they’ve done that. Several times they’ve gone with a 9-man bullpen, but for the most part it’s been an 8-man bullpen and a shorter 4-man bench.