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    2023 Reds MiLB Reliever of the Year: Michael Byrne

    Doug Gray 17

    Unlike last year’s winner of this award (Fernando Cruz), Michael Byrne did not come out of nowhere. The Cincinnati Reds selected Byrne in the 14th round of the 2018 draft out of Florida.

    Michael Byrne missed nearly all of April, but he was sent to join the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts on April 28th. The first three weeks of the season were a bit rough as he got his season started. In his first five games he allowed nine runs on 12 hits in 9.1 innings for the Lookouts.

    He didn’t allow nine earned runs the rest of the season. From May 24th through the final game of the year he made 26 appearances and allowed just seven earned runs. During that time he threw 42.2 innings, allowed just 32 hits, walked just 13 batters, and he struck out 48. His ERA over that time was just 1.48, and it lowered his ERA on the season to 2.77 for the lookouts. Byrne held opposing hitters to a .219/.279/.348 line on the year in 219 plate appearances.

    While he was good throughout the season after his first handful of outings, he really turned things up a notch in the final two months. He allowed one run in 22.1 innings with just two walks and 23 strikeouts in 11 games during August and September.

    Among Reds minor leaguers that were mostly pitching out of the bullpen and threw at least 40.0 innings, Byrne’s ERA was the second best – Jacob Heatherly’s 2.72 ERA was the top mark. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was also the second best in the farm system – Myles Gayman was at the top of the list. The right-hander had the third best strikeout rate.

    Michael Byrne didn’t lead the organization in any specific category among relievers. What he did do, though, was rank among the top few in nearly all categories and that all added up for him putting together a strong 2023 campaign with Chattanooga.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    17 Responses

      1. That in itself is a little concerning. An increase in velocity is typically something that doesn’t come naturally at his age, where he is at the place where maintains not increasing is the goal. It seemed to me in the few times I saw him on milbtv that he had really added some girth to his body.

    3. 2.77 ERA is ok but reliever of the year? Yikes…is the reliever position that bare in the Reds Minors?

      1. It’s certainly not a strength. Maxwell and Sandridge look like the best bets to play at the major league level. Both are playing in the Arizona Fall League and doing well.

        A third possibility is Andrew Moore. Another guy that can get the ball up there near 100 miles an hour but not quite as strong of overall stuff as Maxwell. Coincidentally, he is also participating in the Arizona fall league.

        1. Maxwell has some of the best stuff in the AFL, in both break and velocity. The issue is whether he remains a Joel Kuhlnel or Ryan Hendrix, becomes a Tanner Rainey, or figures out how to be Ian Gilbeault or one of the monsters in the Astros bullpen.

          Andrew Moore is not so much a sleeper as an invisible man, as he didn’t pitch much this season. A bounce back from him in 24 would add a nice feather in the cap of the Castillo trade.

        2. I would caution the pessimism with what we’ve seen from Diaz and others who emerged somewhat late and unexpectedly. The bullpen was the entire reason they had a winning season this year (sorry rookies, you get enough credit).

      2. Many major league relievers were starting pitchers in the minor leagues. In most cases, the best pitchers start in the minors, especially in the lower levels. Generally, the reliever position is bare in all farm systems.

      3. The 2.77 ERA is almost as concerning as Josh Hader’s 5.37 ERA in AAA was to the Brewers in 2017. Hader had 51 strikeouts in 52 innings.

        Alexis Diaz had a 3.83 ERA in 2021.

      1. I had thought the same, but a closer look had led me to think he might have a window in 2024. The reason for this being, that he was the closer at Florida in the SEC, drafted at age 21, is now four seasons in (subtract 2020) AND had one of the biggest spikes in velocity last year in all of the minors. He’s proven he can get hitters out. So, continued success at AAA and who knows, he may be a 5th or 6th inning guy.

        His BA pre-draft scouting report: “Byrne does not fit the typical closer’s profile, however. His fastball sits 90-92 mph*, but he does an exceptional job of spotting it and keep it down in the zone. His slider is his primary secondary pitch and he also has a changeup, but he rarely shows it in short stints. Byrne has excellent pitchability and a feel for his craft.”

        *now 94-ish

        You never know.

        1. Yeah, maybe he could reach the major leagues and even help the Reds bullpen but not in the prospect category. He coud act as a kind of Fernando Cruz as a comp but younger…

      2. Cruz ,as an older Rookie, might not have been a prospect, but he has become an important part of the major league pen.

      3. You’re right that 26 makes him not much of a prospect anymore, but plenty of solid bullpen guys emerge in their mid-to-late 20’s. Relievers don’t really follow the same age trajectories as position players and starters.

      4. OK I’m getting out the dictionary. (The offseason is here.)

        prospect
        ?pr?sp?kt
        4. a person regarded as likely to succeed or as a potential customer, client, etc..

        By this definition, and perhaps yours, there are very few prospects around. If I were to adopt this definition, there would maybe be 10 MLB prospects every year. Indeed, that’s how many “succeed”.

        But there is the word “likely”. In the baseball realm, amid 100’s of prospects (500?), “likely” is skewed. Actually, so is “succeed”. The are both flattened by the enormous odds against each player.

        So, is Byrne “likely” to “succeed”? HECK YEAH!!!

      5. Age is pretty much irrelevant to pitchers, until much later in their careers. Sandy Koufax did not become “Sandy Koufax” until age 25. Jacob DeGrom debuted in MLB in his age 26 season. Reliever Felix Bautista of the Orioles debuted at age 27 in 2022.

        Pitching is a repeatable body motion akin to a golf swing. Hitting is reactive, and highly dependent on reflexes and eyesight, both of which peak in a player’s low-to-mid 20s, and that is why age is important in evaluating hitters.

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