The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Alan Busenitz. Left-hander Brandon Leibrandt was optioned in a corresponding active roster move. The club already had a 40-man roster vacancy.
Cincinnati got stomped by Atlanta yesterday, eventually losing 15-3. Starter Julian Aguiar allowed seven of those runs, lasting four innings. After Yosver Zulueta came in and allowed one run in one frame, Leibrandt entered and covered the final four, allowing another seven runs. Leibrandt threw 80 pitches in that mop-up duty and was surely going to be unavailable for a few days, so the club will swap him out for a fresh arm.
Busenitz, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason and this is the second time they have selected his contract. The first was August 23, a day in which the club deployed a bullpen game against the Pirates. He was one of seven pitchers to take the mound for the Reds that day, completing one inning but allowing four runs, three of them earned. He was designated for assignment the next day and later cleared waivers, getting outrighted back to Triple-A Louisville.
His results have naturally been much better at that level. He has a 4.07 earned run average for the Bats, often tossing multiple innings at a time, as he’s logged 66 1/3 frames in his 49 outings. His 21.6% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate are all pretty close to par.
The Reds are out of contention but Busenitz can give them another relief option as they look to trudge through the final days of the season. He is out of options, so it’s possible he could be back on the waiver wire if the club needs to adjust its pitching staff yet again. The Reds don’t have a starter announced for Sunday’s game, so another bullpen game or spot start could be upcoming.