Reds’ first year manager, Terry (Tito) Francona told his squad, “I’ve gotta be careful. One thing that we preach to our guys early is that we’re not evaluating. There is a time to compete and if I say that we’re not and I go ahead and evaluate, I send the wrong message. They’re getting their legs under them. They’re building their arm strength. They’re working on their delivery.”
Francona watched Connor Phillips pitch against hitters on Thursday morning.
Phillips, just 23-years old, came to the Reds in the Winker, Suarez trade in 2022. He was the player to be named later.
The Reds chose to bring him to the big leagues in September of 2023. He made a start against the Mariners on September 5th. He made a quality start against the Minnesota Twins, pitching seven innings of two-run, three-hit baseball.
Phillips spent 2024 with Louisville in a nightmare season. He made 19 starts, with a 3-9 record and a 8.01 ERA. Phillps walked a whopping 60 batters in 78 ⅔ innings. He allowed 16 home runs, striking out 77. It made a horrible walk to strikeout ratio of 1.28.
Phillips pitched better in the Arizona Fall League. He made four starts with a 2-2 record and a 4.19 ERA. He struck out 26 and walked 14 for a much better strikeout to walk ratio of 1.86.
“He was pitching against live pitchers yesterday, so he is advanced in his progression,” Francona said. “You’ll see him in one of the earlier games. He’s got a big arm. He has to harness it, command it. I know last year there were some struggles. That happens. I tell them if you did good, I recognize that. If you didn’t it’s kind of a clean slate. Take advantage of it.”
Cooper Bowman is a Rule V addition from the Oakland A’s roster. That requires the Reds to keep him on the 26-man roster or offer him back to the Athletics. Josh Hamilton, who was a Rule V selection by the Cubs but purchased by the Reds before the 2007 season. He stuck with the Reds. The likes of Connor Joe, Mark Payton, Jake Cave and Chris O’Grady did not. Two others that stuck with the Reds were reliever Jared Burton and catcher Stuart Turner.
Bowman has value because he has played a lot of infield and has a reputation of being a plus fielder but circumstances will influence his future with the Reds.
“Sometimes it doesn’t matter what they do. By that I mean with a Rule V player, our guys like what they see. He has athleticism, some versatility. Saying that it's got to fit. You’ve gotta feel like you can keep him and not sacrifice a spot because we’re trying to win. He’s going to play a lot this spring. Our scouts really liked him. His ability to move around will help his case for making our team.”
The development of players career factors in, Could the player benefit from another minor league season?
“It’s hard. You don’t want to stunt the guy's development,” Francona said. “We see that all the time. Guys stay in the big leagues for three or four months, or even if they stay the whole year, then the next year they go to Triple A or Double A but they lose that big year of development. We’re just getting to know this kid. Obviously, we like him. We’ll see where it goes. A lot of it is dependent on how he’s situated with the rest of our guys.”
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