Cincinnati Reds 2016 Season In Review

Pitchers

The Reds pitching in 2016 was bad – real, real bad. How bad, you may ask? So bad that they became the first team in history that Fangraphs can find that actually accumulated negative WAR as an entire staff for the season. Jeff Sullivan recently wrote an article about it on the site and highlighted the piece, but I noticed this when I was looking up the team numbers and had already checked back a long while and not found anyone even close to 0, let alone negative, so this was an incredible feat by the Reds on the season.

Everything was not horrid, however. Dan Straily was acquired late in spring training and made 31 starts for the Reds, throwing 191 innings. He posted a very solid 3.76 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP on the season. Straily did allow 31 home runs on the season, but part of that is pitching at Great American Ballpark, a notorious hitter’s park.

Anthony DeSclafani missed the start of the season, but from the time he started his year, he was the ace of the Cincy staff, putting up a 3.28 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 20 starts and 123 1/3 innings. DeSclafani often ended up toe-to-toe with aces of the league, and he performed very well against them, and he gave a radio interview that I caught in the last week of the season that he claimed that pitching in high-pressure situations energized him. He may be waiting a bit to have a pennant chase for his team, but he will be put in a position to match up against other teams’ best starters whenever possible by the Reds.

Brandon Finnegan started the season and struggled heavily, but in the second half, he really turned it on and finished the season with a 3.98 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over 172 innings. Acquired from the Royals last season in the Johnny Cueto deal, Finnegan’s second half 2.93 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 31/72 BB/K showed the type of pitcher he could become, setting him as a solid 1-2-3 punch with Straily and DeSclafani.

The bullpen also featured a trio of solid performers with Raisel Iglesias really taking to his move full-time to the bullpen by throwing a 2.53 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over 78 1/3 innings on the season. Jumbo Diaz made 45 appearances, throwing 43 innings at a 3.14 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with a 19/37 BB/K ratio. Last was Michael Lorenzen, moved from the rotation to the bullpen, and he not only provided a 2.88 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 13/48 BB/K over 50 innings. Lorenzen was also part of the most emotional non-Jose Fernandez video that came out on the season. Simply watch this and I dare you not to cry!

Next: Twins 2016 Season Review

Of course, for that level of bad pitching, many pitched poorly, but some exceptionally so. Alfredo Simon had a 9.36 ERA, but was still given the ball for 11 starts and 15 times overall. John Lamb made 14 starts with a 6.43 ERA. Cody Reed initially threw well, but then ended his season at a 7.36 ERA before he was sent to the DL. J.J. Hoover posted a 13.50 ERA in 18 appearances, allowing an incredible 9 home runs in those appearances!