Reds Designate Silvino Bracho, Select Randy Wynne

The Reds announced a trio of roster moves, including the selection of Randy Wynne’s contract from Triple-A Louisville.  Cincinnati also called up righty Levi Stoudt from Triple-A, and Stoudt will get the start today against the Braves.  To create roster space, the Reds designated right-hander Silvino Bracho for assignment.

Wynne will be making his Major League debut with his first appearance, and that personal milestone could come as early as today in relief of Stoudt.  The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith notes that Stoudt is just recently back from a ribcage injury and isn’t fully built up for a proper starter’s workload, so Stoudt might not last long no matter how he fares against the Atlanta lineup.  Wynne has been a swingman for much of his pro career, and the Reds could employ something of a piggyback system between Stoudt and Wynne today.

Wynne is an undrafted right-hander who pitched in independent baseball for parts of the 2016-19 seasons before finally catching on with the Reds in 2019.  He continued with the organization after the canceled 2020 minor league season, pitching at Double-A in 2021 and then at Triple-A in each of the last two years.  Wynne doesn’t record many strikeouts or grounders, as he relies on soft contact and an impressive walk rate to keep batters in check.  Over 164 1/3 innings at Triple-A, the 30-year-old Wynne has a 4.82 ERA over 164 1/3 innings, starting 29 of 38 games.

Stoudt and Wynne could each get some looks in the rotation as the Reds try to navigate multiple pitching injuries.  Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Ben Lively are all sidelined, and while Graham Ashcraft was activated from the 15-day IL yesterday, the good news of his return was tempered by Lively heading to the injured list with pectoral soreness.  Lively had been slated to start today’s game, which is why Cincinnati is turning to their latest backup plan of Stoudt.

This is the second time the Reds have DFA’ed Bracho this season, as he was previously designated and then outrighted off the roster back in May.  Bracho’s contract was selected again just a few days ago, and over his two stints in Cincinnati has posted a 3.68 ERA in 7 1/3 relief innings, with an equal number (six) of strikeouts and walks.  Bracho already passed on the opportunity to elect minor league free agency the last time he was outrighted off the Reds’ 40-man roster, but assuming he clears DFA waivers again, he still has the right to reject another outright assignment and test the open market.

Bracho has appeared in parts of seven MLB seasons, debuting with the Diamondbacks in 2015.  After four up-and-down seasons, he underwent a Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for basically all of the 2019-20 seasons, save for one inning in one game with Arizona in 2020.  Bracho then caught on with the Giants, Red Sox, and Braves before landing in Cincinnati on a minor league contract this past winter, though the right-hander’s only other Major League experience in 2021-22 was 4 1/3 innings with Atlanta last season.