Yesterday the Cincinnati Reds added several players to the 40 man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 draft next month at the winter meetings. Most of the names added were players most of you were familiar with, but one name wasn’t as familiar as the others. Carlos Contreras was added and being the most unknown of the group, I thought I would spend some time to give him a Game Breakdown article.
Season Stats
| Tm | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | SO | WHIP | K/BB |
| Dayton | 0 | 1 | 3.20 | 16 | 50.2 | 29 | 6 | 19 | 51 | 0.95 | 2.7 |
| Bakersfield | 1 | 0 | 2.70 | 4 | 10.0 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 1.40 | 2.4 |
| Total | 1 | 1 | 3.12 | 20 | 60.2 | 38 | 7 | 24 | 63 | 1.02 | 2.6 |
Scouting
Carlos Contreras throws a fastball from the low 90’s up to 98 MPH. He has an average to plus change up at times and mixes in a loopy curveball that is a below average pitch. He has solid mechanics, but can try to overthrow at times and loses his control because of it.
Game Information
For this game I looked at his June 7th performance for the Dayton Dragons against the Lake County Captains. Contreras threw 2 innings with 2 hits, a walk and 2 strikeouts. You can see the box score for the game here.
Game Breakdown
| Pitch | Type | Target? | Result | Position | Notes |
| 1 | FB | Hit | Called K | Low Outside | |
| 2 | FB | Missed | Ball | Middle Outside | |
| 3 | FB | Missed | Ball | High Outside | |
| 4 | FB | Hit | Swinging K | High Middle | |
| 5 | CV | Missed | Ball | Low Outside | |
| 6 | FB | Hit | Swinging K | Middle Outside | 90 MPH |
| 7 | FB | Missed | Ball | Middle Outside | 93 MPH |
| 8 | FB | Camera | Missed | The Pitch | 94 MPH |
| 9 | CV | Missed | Foul | Middle Inside | |
| 10 | CV | Missed | Swinging K | Low Outside | Good bite, missed the zone very wide |
| 11 | FB | Hit | Single | Low Inside | GB single to right field on 94 MPH FB |
| 12 | FB | Hit | Foul | High Middle | |
| 13 | CH | Hit | Single | High Middle | GB single to center field |
| 14 | FB | Missed | Ball | Middle Inside | 94 MPH |
| 15 | CH | Missed | Ball | Middle Outside | |
| 16 | FB | Missed | Ball | High Outside | Walk to load the bases |
| 17 | FB | Hit | GB to SS | Low Inside | Easy grounder to shortstop |
| 18 | FB | Hit | Foul | Low Outside | |
| 19 | CV | Missed | Ball | Dirt middle | 50 foot pitch |
| 20 | CV | Hit | Called K | Low Middle | |
| 21 | FB | Hit | GB to 3B | Low Outside | Easy chopper to 3B |
| 22 | FB | Missed | Ball | Low Inside | 94 MPH |
| 23 | FB | Missed | Ball | Low Outside | |
| 24 | FB | Missed | Swinging K | Middle Inside | |
| 25 | FB | Hit | GB to 2B | Middle Inside | Easy grounder to second base |
| 26 | CH | Hit | Called K | Middle Low | |
| 27 | CV | Missed | Ball | Middle Outside | |
| 28 | FB | Missed | Ball | Middle Low | |
| 29 | FB | Hit | GB to 1B | Middle Inside | Nice diving play by the first baseman |
Statistical Breakdown
| Pitch | Selection | K Rate | Called K | Swing K | Foul | In Play |
| Fastball | 69% | 60% | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Change Up | 10% | 67% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Curveball | 21% | 50% | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Overall Impressions
In this game I didn’t see the top end of his change up, but he only threw a few in the game, relying more on his curveball. As a reliever, Contreras will only need two pitches. His curveball showed decent bite once during the game, but he was tipping the pitch and it really didn’t look like a pitch that would work well at the next level. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he eventually dropped the curveball and worked solely with the fastball and change up. I think he is still likely a year or two away, but could see him being a good addition to the bullpen.