Bats plan to replace Reynolds ‘by committee’

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Greg Reynolds went 12–3 with the Bats in 2013. (photo by Pat Pfister, pfoto.com)[/caption]

The Louisville Bats and Jim Riggleman will face the difficult task of replacing last season’s ace Greg Reynolds in 2014.

The former second overall pick from the star-studded 2006 draft was nothing short of spectacular in 2013 with a 12–3 record and 2.42 ERA. He was top three in the International League in six statistical categories including wins (12), ERA (2.42), complete games (three), WHIP (1.06) shutouts (one) and win percentage (.800) — all numbers that would typically send any prospect to the major leagues.

However, when he’s had his chance in the past, the tall right hander has struggled to make the most of his opportunities at the highest level.

Nonetheless, numbers like he posted in 2013 were bound to catch someone’s eye, and in December, Reynolds signed a contract to pitch with the Seibu Lions of Japan.

One pitcher won’t likely be able to match Reynolds production from 2013, but the Reds and general manager Walt Jocketty have done their part this offseason to provide the organization with a number of capable arms.

Enter: Chien-Ming Wang, Jeff Francis and David Holmberg.

Veterans Wang and Francis — both familiar with the organization and its members — were signed to minor league deals out of free agency and invited to Goodyear, Ariz., for the Reds’ spring training.

Prior to injuring his foot while running the bases during the 2008 season with the New York Yankees, Wang was one of the game’s premiere ground ball pitchers. From 2005–2008, the native of Taiwan posted a 54–20 record with a 3.79 ERA. However, in an effort to come back from his injury a year later, Wang injured his pitching arm and subsequently ended his career with the Yanks.

The 33-year-old has struggled to return to form — appearing in six games with the Toronto Blue Jays and posting a 1–2 record with a 7.67 ERA in 2013 — but Riggleman, who previously crossed paths with Wang while managing for the Washington Nationals, believes he is now on the right track and could prove to be a piece to this season’s puzzle.

“If he’s healthy, he’s really an asset not just to the Bats, but he’ll be an asset to the Reds because he is the ultimate ground-ball pitcher,” Riggleman said in his press conference earlier this week. “Great American Ball Park is a place where you want the ball to be on the ground as much as possible. He’s got a chance to show us when the ball is put in play, it’s on the ground. That’s the key. If you see the ball in the air a lot when he’s pitching, then he’s not back to where he used to be.”

Likely joining Wang in the Bats’ rotation to start the season will be familiar face Jeff Francis.

Francis will be back with the organization for the second time in three seasons. In 2012, the 33-year-old lefty failed to make the Reds 25-man roster out of spring training, but appeared in 12 games with the Bats before opting out of his contract on June 1. He then promptly resigned with the team that drafted him with the ninth overall pick in the 2002 draft — the Colorado Rockies.

In 2013, Francis appeared in 23 games — 12 starts and 11 relief appearances — with the big league club and struggled to a 3–5 record with a 6.27 ERA. Nonetheless, Riggleman has high hopes for Francis, much like he does for Wang.

“Those two veterans hopefully will be able to do something in the same realm that Greg Reynolds did for us last year.” He said. “I think Francis and Wang were great additions because they can not only help us here but can be really good insurance for the big league club.”

Holmberg, on the other hand, adds a little youth to the mix. He was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-team trade that sent catcher Ryan Hanigan to Tampa Bay on a 3-year, $10.75 million contract and was also extended an invitation to Goodyear, Ariz.

Last season, the 22-year-old left hander was named a Southern League All-Star after posting a 5–8 record with a 2.75 ERA in 26 appearances with the Mobile BayBears — the Double-A affiliate of the Diamondbacks. In August 2013, Holmberg made his major league debut in an emergency appearance with the club and gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings.

“It’s nice to have a young guy like Holmberg come along,” Riggleman said. “You like to have those guys who the major league club can look at and ask, ‘Is this guy going to pitch for us some day in the big leagues?’”

With pitchers and catchers scheduled to report to spring training two weeks from today, the rotation is not set in stone, but these three additions to the Reds organization will have their chance to show they have returned — in the cases of Wang and Francis — or they have emerged — in the case of Holmberg.