Here is the list of guys that the Reds have added to the 40-man roster to protect from the Rule 5 draft:
- Didi Gregorius – SS
- Kyle Lotzkar – RHP
- Donald Lutz – 1B
- Henry Rodriguez – 2B
- Neftali Soto – 1B
- Pedro Villarreal – RHP
Didi Gregorius provides good defense at shortstop, but is probably at least a full season away offensively from being MLB ready, if not more. The main issue with Gregorius being added is that according to all of the rules I know of, he didn’t need to be and even he didn’t think he was Rule 5 eligible this year. Kyle Lotzkar probably isn’t ready to be in the Majors right now, but he is the type of arm that you could probably hide in the bullpen just to add him to your team. Donald Lutz was the biggest surprise here. He has a lot of potential with that big time power, but it isn’t often that you see guys who have never been above Low A as position prospects being protected. He isn’t ready to be on a 25 man roster right now. Henry Rodriguez is a good hitting second baseman, hitting .300+ at every level in the US that he has been at. Defensively he isn’t anything to write home about, but he can stick there and is fairly close. Neftali Soto probably needs at least another year in the minors to improve upon his plate discipline, but his power is real and he was an easy decision to make. Pedro Villarreal is a tad surprising, but he has a good arm with an above average fastball and good breaking ball. He has been a starter, but could have been hidden in a bullpen or even moved to the bullpen for a team who didn’t think he would remain as a starter.
The biggest guy left off to me was Josh Ravin. He is a model of inconsistency, but he has very good stuff. As a starter this year he was sitting 93-95 MPH. He has a very good breaking ball. He has times where he can absolutely dominate the opposition. Of course he also has had times where he struggled mightily to get batters out with a lack of control. The numbers don’t suggest a guy that you would protect, but if I were a team with a spot, he is a guy I would be targeting at the very least to take a look at in spring training and see if my pitching coaches could help him find more consistency. The only other guy I would be thinking about losing would be Scott Carroll. While his numbers weren’t good in Louisville this year (5.39 ERA, 1.60 WHIP), he has solid stuff and I have been wondering for two years now as to how he could perform out of the bullpen. As a starter, his fastball is 88-92, but can touch 95 at times. He also has three other pitches including two breaking balls. Out of the bullpen he could potentially add velocity to his fastball and concentrate on one breaking ball and improve it as well.