Reds send former second-round pick to Triple-A amid flurry of roster moves

The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Silvino Bracho from Triple-A Louisville and recalled fellow righty Alan Busenitz. Cincinnati optioned outfielder Stuart Fairchild to Louisville and placed righty Casey Legumina on the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder issue in a pair of corresponding 26-man roster moves. The Reds already had a vacant spot on the 40-man roster for Bracho after designating Wil Myers for assignment Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Fairchild has batted .237/.331/.404 in 184 plate appearances while logging time in all three outfield spots this season. The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans tweets that the move to option Fairchild will give the Reds some short-term bullpen help before a reliever is likely sent out this weekend to accommodate righty Graham Ashcraft’s return from the injured list.

Bracho returns to the Reds for a second time in 2023, having already appeared in four games earlier this season. He pitched 5 1/3 innings in that time, yielding three runs on a pair of hits and five walks with four strikeouts. The 30-year-old righty (31 in July) has had a better run in Louisville, posting a 4.22 ERA with a 23.9% strikeout rate and much-improved 9.1%  walk rate in 21 1/3 frames. Bracho has appeared in parts of seven big league seasons, totaling 99 1/3 innings of relief work with a 4.89 ERA and strikeout/walk rates that match his 2023 rates in Triple-A.

The 32-year-old Busenitz resurfaced in the majors as a member of the Reds this year — his first big league work since a 2017-18 run with the Twins. He’s allowed a pair of runs on seven hits and a walk with three punchouts through four frames thus far in the big leagues. He owns a sharp 1.96 ERA in 23 Triple-A frames, though that mark is accompanied by a slightly below-average 21% strikeout rate and a bloated 12% walk rate.

After his run with the Twins, Busenitz spent the 2019-22 seasons pitching with the Rakuten Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he worked to a 2.83 ERA and picked up 18 saves through 155 2/3 innings of bullpen work. He returned to North American ball this past offseason when he signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati. Overall, in addition to that strong run in NPB, Busenitz has a 4.57 ERA in 61 big league innings and a 2.80 ERA in 119 Triple-A frames.

Legumina, 26, was acquired from the Twins in the trade that sent Kyle Farmer to Minnesota in November. He’s pitched to a 4.22 ERA with an outstanding 13-to-1 K/BB ratio in 10 2/3 innings with Louisville but been rocked for a 6.17 ERA with an 11-to-8 K/BB mark in 11 2/3 innings at the MLB level. He’s missed time this season due to ankle and shoulder problems. Cincinnati did provide a formal diagnosis on Legumina’s current shoulder injury, describing the issue only as “right shoulder pain.”