CINCINNATI — Opening day is only three days away, so teams are setting their rosters, revealing their starting rotations, and preparing for the start of the regular season.
The Cincinnati Reds named their starting rotation and finalized the order on Friday, and while the first three starters were shoe-ins to make the Reds’ rotation—Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Graham Ashcraft— the final two names were kind of a surprise.
Connor Overton will be the number four starter, and Luis Cessa will be in the fifth slot. Greene, Lodolo, and Ashcraft will face the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first series of the regular season, and Overton and Cessa will start the first two games of the Reds’ series against the Chicago Cubs. Both series are in Cincinnati.
Hosts Jeff Carr and Steven Offenbaker of the Locked On Reds podcast had some thoughts about the Reds’ rotation on the latest episode of their show but specifically about Connor Overton. They were flabbergasted at his inclusion because of the wording the Reds’s used to describe the 29-year-old lefthander.
Offenbaker joked that it felt like there was a massive PR spin when it came to Overton’s place in the rotation because the Reds used the word consistency to describe his time with the Reds.
But Carr begs to differ.
“Let’s talk about that consistency because last year, he had a whopping 17, 18… Four starts. All last year," Carr said. "And when you add those four starts to his career total, he’s got 60, 70… seven career starts in two years.”
Carr added, “Connor Overton gave the Reds very meaningful starts in the month of May when the team was desperate for any kind of starting pitching but to say that the Reds know that they can rely on that every fifth day is absolutely silly."
It should be noted that Overton missed a big chunk of the 2022 season with a back injury but was his Spring Training performance enough to warrant a spot in the starting rotation? During the time he did pitch, Overton was 1-0 in those four starts (six appearances overall) with a 2.73 ERA in 33 innings pitched.
Carr went on to say that he thinks the Reds picked Overton and Cessa because they weren’t rookies. Lefty minor Leaguer Brandon Williamson, who struggled this Spring, was optioned to Triple-A Lousiville. Veteran Chase Anderson was reassigned to Minor League camp and will also pitch for Louisville.
As for Cessa, he made the rotation by default because Luke Weaver is hurt. Weaver is most likely starting the year on the IL with forearm soreness, so Cessa is stepping in for him.
Reds manager David Bell said about Overton, “He showed what he’s capable of last season. He had a significant injury and worked extremely hard to recover. He was probably our most prepared pitcher coming into spring training from a physical standpoint. He had thrown the most and faced live hitters in the offseason. I think early on he tried to do too much and was almost too ready. He finally settled in. The last few times out, he’s shown what he’s capable of.”
The Reds rotation is unseasoned compared to most in the majors. The trio of Greene, Lodolo, and Ashcraft are all entering their sophomore campaigns, Overton has only thrown 48 major league innings in his entire career, and Cessa’s highest start total in any year of his career was 10, which happened in 2022. So it’s understandable why the hosts of Locked On Reds are wondering what is going on.
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