The Cincinnati Reds have made another trade. And this one also involved one of their to 25 prospects. Earlier in the day the club moved shortstop and #10 prospect Sammy Stafura to Pittsburgh in a deal with the Pirates. Later on Wednesday night they traded Adam Serwinoski in a deal with Tampa Bay and Los Angeles that resulted in the left-handed starter who was the Reds #15 prospect heading out to join the Dodgers organization. Brian Van Belle, who started on Wednesday for Triple-A Louisville was also in the deal and he’s heading to Tampa Bay. Cincinnati got back right-handed starter Zack Littell from the Rays in the deal.
Adam Serwinowski has had an inconsistent 2025 season. He was dominant for the High-A Dayton Dragons in both April and in June where he held opposing hitters to an OPS of .511 and .498 while posting ERA’s of 1.59 and 1.88. But in May his ERA was 10.34 and hitters had an OPS of 1.111 against him and he was only a little better in July where his ERA was 7.00 and hitters put up an .814 OPS against him. You can see his career stats here.
When he’s at his best he can dominate hitters with a quality fastball and a good slider. And he’ll throw plenty of strikes on those good days, too. But he has had some battles with consistency and has struggled to find the strikezone often enough in his career. Perhaps the biggest issue has been the lack of a third pitch that he can show hitters to keep them honest. The lefty did start showing a change up in 2025 but it didn’t show up often and it wasn’t much to write home about when it did.
The ceiling is high for Serwinowski. The 21-year-old has two above-average pitches to work with and he might be able to tap into the mid-90’s more often with his fastball if he moves to the bullpen in the future. But the floor is low, too, given the struggles he has with consistency and a lack of a third pitch that’s useful at this point while he’s in High-A.
Brian Van Belle was on the 40-man roster, but the soon-to-be 29-year-old has never pitched in the big leagues. In his 2025 season he made seven starts for Louisville and threw 36.1 innings. Before being picked up by the Reds he threw 51.0 innings for Boston’s Triple-A team in Worchester. Between his two stops he posted a 3.40 ERA this season while covering 87.1 innings, walking just 15 batters, and striking out 72. You can see his career stats here.