Cincinnati Reds

Press Clippings

June 2, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY

1921-Pat Duncan hits the first home run over the fence at Redland Field. The ball strikes a startled policeman standing on York

Street

MLB.COM Inbox: What should the Reds do with Cozart?

Beat reporter Mark Sheldon answers fans' questions

By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | June 1st, 2017 + 85 COMMENTS

Do you think the Reds stick with the plan to trade Zack Cozart or do they attempt to re-sign him?

-- @redsmccurdygal

Cozart has been huge for the Reds this season, and I know they'd hate to lose him in the lineup and the clubhouse. But I think

Cincinnati's front office will continue to explore moving him, if there's a deal out there. Few contending teams seem to need a

shortstop right now, just like in the offseason.

If the Reds don't trade Cozart, he will hit free agency after the season. I can't imagine him not wanting to see what his open-market

value is. It would seem to be cost prohibitive for Cincinnati to make a qualifying offer that would approach $18 million for 2018. As

for re-signing, the risk there is that Cozart is 31 years old, and locking him up too long would mean he'd be around during

expectedly less productive years.

If the Reds do trade Cozart, what is the possibility of Eugenio Suarez moving back to shortstop? I think he has a much better glove

than Jose Peraza.

-- @KYCoach25

If Cozart does get traded this year, I'd expect Suarez to remain at third base for the Reds for the rest of this season. Peraza would

likely move to shortstop and it would be a chance for Cincinnati to see if he can play the position. At the moment, Scooter Gennett

would be my choice to be the regular second baseman. For 2018, when third baseman and No. 1 prospect Nick Senzel would be

close to being big league ready, I'd explore if Suarez can still play shortstop.

Can you give an update on Dilson Herera and if his shoulder is OK from earlier this spring?

-- Dan M., Tiffin, Ohio

Herrera's shoulder appears to be OK, and I've heard nothing that says otherwise. The reason why he's not mentioned in the previous

answer is because he entered Thursday batting .228/.285/.336 with three home runs at Triple-A Louisville.

Have the Reds thought about stretching out Michael Lorenzen for the rotation because of their lack of depth? His bat would be a

nice bonus every five days.

-- James B., Dundee, Oregon

I know Lorenzen would like to start, and he hasn't given up on it, nor have the Reds given their final answer about his pitching

future. However, if Lorenzen were to be shifted into the rotation, it would likely mean he'd have to go to the Minors for a while to

stretch out his arm for starting. Then there would be a void in two spots on the staff.

Although Bronson Arroyo's comeback story has been nothing short of amazing, it seems like he is constantly digging the offense a

sizeable hole to come back from. What do you think his future is? I can see him as a specialist reliever, but starting seems to be

beyond his current capabilities.

-- John J., Indianapolis, Ind.

Arroyo realizes he has a short window for his performances to start turning a corner. When injured starting pitchers start coming off

the disabled list, it will get harder to make the case that he is one of the Reds' best five starters available. I suppose the bullpen is an

option if Arroyo can provide length, but his style of pitching and preparation could make that a square peg for a round hole.

Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on

Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball

or its clubs.

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Reds farm notes: Tortugas infielders raking

C. Trent Rosecrans , crosecrans@enquirer.com 4:42 p.m. ET June 1, 2017

When first baseman Gavin LaValley hit his 13th home run of the season for the Reds’ high-Class A affiliate in Daytona on

Wednesday, second baseman Shed Long hit his ninth two innings later.

“I was like, ‘yep, I couldn’t let you get too far away from me,’” Long said Thursday afternoon. “It’s all pushing each other to be the

best we can be.”

All four of the Tortugas’ infielders are hitting .283 or better entering Thursday’s game against St. Lucie.

Long leads the Tortugas with a .321 batting average. LaValley’s 13 home runs are the second-most in the Florida State League,

third baseman Nick Senzel leads the Tortugas and the league with 20 doubles and shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez hit .333 in May to

improve his average to .283 overall.

Senzel was the No. 2 overall pick last year and is hitting .298/.356/.455. He has three homers to go along with his 20 doubles, as

well as eight stolen bases.

Long was the organization’s Hitter of the Year in 2016 and he’s making a case at a repeat in 2017. He’s hitting .321/.380/.528.

When the Reds signed Rodriguez out of Cuba last year, his glove was considered elite, but his bat was a concern. After a hot May,

he entered June hitting .283/.327/.318.

LaValley was drafted as a power-hitting third baseman out of an Oklahoma high school in 2014. A former offensive lineman, the 6-

foot-3 LaValley weighed as much as 270 pounds in high school, was 235 when he was drafted and is now at 220.

His 13 home runs, including home runs on both Tuesday and Wednesday, are more than he’d hit in a full season before this year.

Last year at Daytona, he hit 11 homers.

All of this comes in a league, the Florida State League, that is known as a pitcher’s league because of the ballparks and the climate.

Weiss makes first appearance since 2015

Wednesday night, right-hander Zack Weiss pitched in a game for the first time since 2015. Weiss had elbow surgery (non-Tommy

Jonn) last season, missing all of 2016.

Weiss gave up two unearned runs in 2/3 of an inning. He allowed a hit and struck out two.

A six-round pick out of UCLA in 2013, Weiss had 30 saves in 2015 between Daytona and Double-A Pensacola. He was invited to

big-league camp in 2016 and pitched in two exhibition games before the elbow injury.

Romano close to a return

Sal Romano will pitch for Triple-A Louisville soon, posting on Twitter that he was back at 100 percent.

Romano, 23, made his big-league debut on April 16, giving up three runs (two earned) in three innings against Milwaukee. Romano

was optioned back to Triple-A after that start. He pitched two games for Louisville before going on the disabled list with shoulder

inflammation on April 27. He will get a start for Louisville shortly.

Finally pitching regularly, Reds prospect Moss excelling

Zach Buchanan , zbuchanan@enquirer.com Published 3:21 p.m. ET June 1, 2017 | Updated 18 hours ago

DAYTON – Scott Moss’ resume isn’t a very long one. Were the left-hander auditioning for a normal job instead of one as a baseball

player, he’d probably have to hand prospective employers a list of his achievements on an index card.

He spent three years at the University of Florida, but pitched only 23 innings. He made five starts, only one of which lasted longer

than three innings.

Last year, the Cincinnati Reds looked past Moss’ sparsely populated game log and selected him in the fourth round of the draft. He

signed for $577,400, a bonus that came in slightly above the suggested draft slot value.

“I didn’t think I would get picked up as early as I did,” Moss said.

So far, it seems to have been a prudent investment. Last year, Moss turned in a 2.35 ERA in 10 starts at Rookie-Advanced Billings.

This year, the 21-year-old has a 2.37 mark in 11 starts for Low-A Dayton. He’s struck out 75, fourth-most in the Midwest League.

For a guy who has barely pitched in the last four years, Moss sure seems to know what he’s doing on the mound.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good guy there,” said Dayton manager Luis Bolivar.

For a college pitcher, Moss sure didn’t do much college pitching. He pitched throughout fall ball in his first year at Florida, but

suffered a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament that required Tommy John surgery before the season started. The recovery process

knocked out what would have been his sophomore season as well.

His first action came as a redshirt sophomore in 2016, and he barely saw the field. He wasn’t one of Florida’s top weekend pitchers,

and pitched only four times against Southeastern Conference opponents in the regular season. He logged a total of two-thirds of an

inning and 19 pitches in those games.

The rest of his action came in early-week games against nonconference opponents. Moss was called upon for four starts, all of

which lasted three innings. The other 4 1/3 regular-season innings came across seven appearances. If he was noticed by scouts, he

thinks it was because the team’s less-essential pitchers would throw bullpens at highly scouted Wednesday practices.

Then, in the middle of the SEC tournament, his coach informed him he’d be starting the semifinal against No. 7 LSU. Moss turned

in six shutout innings, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out seven. Florida won.

“I got to the three-inning mark, which I did the past starts that I had, and I felt myself getting tired,” Moss said. “But at that point,

you keep pushing through because you are. You’re in front of 10,000 people at the SEC tournament. It’s a pretty cool thing to do.”

Moss hasn’t quite matched that atmosphere in pro ball, but his performance hasn’t lagged. After a collegiate career defined by

inactivity, he’s had to learn how to manage his body in between starts to keep himself sharp every fifth day.

And he's been quite sharp. Bolivar and farm director Jeff Graupe have had glowing things to say about Moss’ slider, although the

lefty thinks his fastball is his best pitch. It comes in at only 88-92 mph, but Graupe thinks it’ll add more ticks as Moss gets stronger

and further removed from his surgery.

That procedure still sits at the back of the Reds’ collective front office mind, and will for at least the rest of this year. Moss pitched

only 61 1/3 innings between college and pro ball last year, and is currently sitting at 57 innings in 2017. The Reds will be careful

with him, and are counting on Moss to be honest about how his body feels.

But they’re happy to see him performing well. Moss knows bumps in the road are inevitable, but at least he’s getting to pitch. He

strives to keep it as uncomplicated as that.

“I’ll struggle here and there. Everyone does,” Moss said. “But for the most part, it’s throw it over the white thing and let the ball do

the action for you.”

BAR: Ranking the most unlikely Reds starters

REDS BLOG

Zach Buchanan , zbuchanan@enquirer.com Published 10:07 a.m. ET June 1, 2017 | Updated 24 hours ago

This week in their three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Cincinnati Reds started three unheralded right-handers --

Lisalverto Bonilla, Asher Wojciechowski and Tim Adleman. If you had those three being in the rotation during spring training,

you're a liar and I can't believe I ever trusted you.

The Reds have handed out many such opportunities in the last three years, whether it be because the team hasn't planned enough for

injuries to and struggle by higher-priority pitchers or because they haven't given a damn about spending money to stabilize the

rotation while they're rebuilding. But who has been the most unlikely Reds starter in that span?

For the purposes of this exercise, we'll exclude big-league free-agent signings and pitchers who came to the Reds via trade, as those

are fairly common ways of acquiring a pitcher. Here we go, in descending order.

7. Dan Straily. Straily was perhaps the team's best waiver claim in the last decade, which would include Alfredo Simon. But he'd

had a starting history before, including a terrific rookie year. While it was a surprise that he wound up with the Reds last season, the

bigger surprise was how he carried the pitching staff.

6. Lisalverto Bonilla. Another waiver claim, although Bonilla was at least claimed early enough in spring to spend most of camp

with the Reds. He was mentioned in the starting mix upon his arrival, but quickly fell out of favor due to poor performance. But he'd

been a prospect of note before in other organizations.

5. Daniel Wright. Wright was drafted and developed by the Reds, but it would have been nearly impossible to predict that he'd start

two games for them last season. A 10th-round draft pick in 2013, Wright had started only two games in Double-A and two in

Triple-A before being called up out of a dire need for a starter. He was later lost on waivers in a roster crunch.

4. Tim Melville. Melville was a minor-league signing ahead of spring training in 2016, and started two games at the beginning of

that season. (One went well, the other extremely poorly.) He'd spent a previous, unremarkable season in the Detroit Tigers

organization, and now is pitching in independent ball.

3. Tim Adleman. Adleman spent a few years in the Reds' system before being called up, and besides Straily has been the most

successful of this group. But before he was a Red, he was an indy-baller who was initially deemed not good enough to play for the

Florence Freedom. That's a long road to travel to big-league starter.

2. Bronson Arroyo. For all of the span we're discussing, Bronson Arroyo was old and injured. He'd had elbow surgery in 2014, and

shoulder surgery after that. His body was not responding to treatment well enough to allow him to pitch, at least until a last-ditch

stem-cell treatment this past fall. That he's pitching for anyone is unlikely. That it's the Reds actually makes some sense.

1. Asher Wojciechowski. Wojciechowski's ascent to big-league starter -- however long that is -- is notable for how quickly it

transpired. He was released from his minor-league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks at the end of spring training, and spent

three weeks on the couch. The Reds came calling because they were hurting for Triple-A starters as much as big-league ones. He

dominated in the minors, came up due to a need for long relief and hopped into the rotation after one outing due to another pitching

injury. In total, the entire process from couch to rotation took a little more than a month.

The Blue Jays beat the Reds 5-4 on Wednesday to sweep the four-game series in Toronto. The Enquirer/C. Trent Rosecrans

ICYMI

- Flipping the usual script, the Reds got a solid start and poor bullpen work to fall to the Blue Jays.

- Covington Catholic grad Luke Maile was the hero for Toronto.

- Jackson Stephens had quite a travel ordeal for a big-league stint that might not last very long.

- Reminder: Tomorrow is our Friday mailbag, and you can send your questions to zbuchanan@enquirer.com or tweet them with the

hashtag #heyBARtender. We've already received the most questions we've probably ever had for it, so good job.

Minor-league roundup

Triple-A: Louisville 7, Gwinnett 5. RHP Kyle McMyne started a bullpen day, giving up two runs in three innings. LF Sebastian

Elizalde homered, and RF Jesse Winker went 3 for 3 with two walks and four driven in. [Box]

Double-A: Jacksonville 9, Pensacola 8. RHP Jimmy Herget gave up the winning run in the ninth, although his ERA still sits at just

1.85. 1B Eric Jagielo and C Adrian Nieto homered, and LF Tyler Goeddel was 3 for 4 and is hitting .314. [Box]

High-A: St. Lucie 6, Daytona 5 (13 innings). LHP Juan Martinez came in with two on and one out in the 13th and immediately

surrendered the walk-off hit. RHP Zack Weiss gave up two unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning for his first action since 2015.

1B Gavin LaValley and 2B Shed Long both homered. [Box]

Low-A: Dayton 9, South Bend 8. LHP Wennington Romero gave up five runs -- three earned -- in 4 2/3 innings. CF Jose Siri

homered, and LF Taylor Trammell went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a triple. [Box]

FANGRAPHS.COM Dictating the Action with Joey Votto

by Travis Sawchik - May 31, 2017

“It’s like a boxer who is always trying to lead the guy into his straight. You have to manipulate him with your footwork. Same type

of thing in baseball. You have to figure out a way to funnel [the pitcher] into your hot zone. That comes with patience and that

comes with accepting or realizing there will be some error on their side.

“It’s almost like as a hitter you have to be a counter puncher. The best way to be a counter puncher is just to sit and wait and absorb

and then counter with whatever you think your strength is.”

—Joey Votto to David Manel, last September

CLEVELAND – Baseball is an unusual team sport in that the defense possess the ball. Pitchers have the advantage of dictating the

action, the location, and type of pitch. But the idea articulated by Votto in the epigraph above is fascinating, this idea of “funneling,”

of batters influencing pitchers. It led me to Votto’s locker in the corner of the visiting clubhouse at Progressive Field last week.

A willing and introspective Votto is a great resource if you’re interested in discussing the art of hitting. I suppose it’s akin to having

access to this generation’s Ted Williams. I was curious to learn more about this idea of dictating action from the batter’s box,

imposing will from there, to learn more about Votto’s renowned selective aggressiveness. Votto leads baseball in the ratio of swings

on pitches in zone compared to swings out of the zone as Ben Lindbergh noted recently. But I was particularly curious to speak with

Votto because it seems like several of the game’s best young hitters are following elements of Votto’s approach. With the data-

density charts that have become available in recent years, we can now see what maturation, what selective aggressiveness, looks

like.

Miguel Sano has become a fearsome hitter because he’s more selective. It appears as though he’s looking in a smaller area to do

damage this year. While Bryce Harper declined to discuss his approach, he also appears to be having great success by zeroing in.

And there was, of course, the great April surprise that was Eric Thames, who credits his success in part to taking advantage of idle

hours in South Korea where he learned to be selectively aggressive, or perhaps and even more refined version of that philosophy

that Votto dubbed “funneling.”

Consider a data-density chart of Thames’ swings this year (via Baseball Savant). Thames clearly has an area he prefers to target.

Compare Harper’s swing frequency last season…

… to his MVP-caliber start to this season:

Sano chased more pitches far out of the zone last season…

… compared to this season:

To me, all of them appear to be funneling — whether or not they would characterize it that way. How much of the skill is innate,

from physical gifts and temperament? How much is a learned discipline? Players don’t often claim to read newspapers or blogs or

listen to talk-radio shows, but Votto said he had read my FanGraphs piece on Thames and boredom. He said it resonated with him.

“Eric reminded me a lot of me. That sounds incredibly arrogant,” said Votto with a laugh, catching himself in comment he didn’t

intend to sound immodest. “What I mean, what he was saying about being in isolation in Korean and watching [Barry] Bonds video

and trying to copy that, I was doing that at 18, 19 years old when I was in the minor leagues. What he is describing, I tried to

implement. He and I are running parallel. He did it kind of in an environment that allowed for a little more failure because he was

not on the biggest stage. I was kind of the same way in the minor leagues. You get to try things and fail and make them into a

reality, if you are so lucky.

“I don’t know if there is something to that, or if he and I are two guys with similar skill sets. But what he was saying about

visualization, about attempting things in games… trying to be a different version of a hitter, of himself. That really, really hit

home.”

Votto said he was lucky to have entered pro ball in the internet era, at a time when MLB.TV existed. When he was with Dayton in

the Midwest League in 2003 and 2004, and Potomac and Sarasota in High-A 2004 and 2005, Votto said he spent many hours in

hotels, on team buses, in the room of his host family’s house logging onto his MLB.TV account and watching video of hitters’

complete at-bats, hitters he wanted to emulate. He most often watched Bonds and Todd Helton. “I told Helton when we played

against him that I used to watch him and he said, ‘I feel old. Thanks a lot,'” Votto recalled.

Votto watched their approaches against left-handed pitchers, the direction in which they hit certain pitchers. He watched them work

at-bats, their ability to not expand their zones.

“I have not been passionate about anything except this,” Votto said of hitting. “I think [about] the Einstein quote ‘I am not

intelligent, I am passionately curious.’ I think I’ve been very, very curious and consistently passionate about hitting, about my job,

about being a complete player, and helping the team win. I think that stands out to me, and I felt that from a very young age.”

Votto and Thames — and perhaps also Harper and Sano — have taken parallel tracks to arrive at the same selectively aggressive

approach, patiently waiting for pitchers to make a mistake in their preferred zones, “funneling” pitches there.

Even Votto is still evolving. Consider data-density charts over the last three years illustrating where Votto has swung (once again,

via Baseball Savant). Votto’s swings seem to have become more concentrated:

Votto’s swings in 2015:

Votto’s swings in 2016:

Votto’s swings in 2017:

Votto believes elite hitters are elite athletes and getting the barrel to the pitch is a skill very few people possess. Hitting, of course, is

said to be perhaps the most difficult athletic feat in major pro sports. What Votto has done, though, is combine those gifts with a

refined and honed philosophy of counterpunching, what he described to me as “creating a really consistent habit of swinging at

pitches in that zone give you a really good chance.”

And this season, Votto keeps counterpunching, he continues to influence and dictate the action — only he has done it in a slightly

different fashion this year. He’s had to come up with a counter-counterpunch as pitchers aggressively attacked his passivity early in

counts.

Last week, Jeff wrote about how Votto has simply stopped striking out and how he’s swinging at fewer balls and more strikes. His

19.3% out-of-zone swing percentage would be nearly a career low. His 69.7% in-zone swing rate, meanwhile, would represent

nearly a career high. The 50-point gap between those figures is unprecedented in Votto’s career.

It’s really been a tale of two months for Votto. In April, Votto was as aggressive as we’ve seen him. He swung at a nearly 22% of

pitches out of the zone, 81.0% of pitches in the zone, and 46.7% of pitches of overall. Votto was a hacker.

This approach was intentional. But pitchers were also more often testing Votto early in counts, throwing first-pitch strikes at a

60.6% rate. Only in one season since 2010, had pitchers thrown first-pitch strikes to Votto more often than 54.5% of the time and

that was back in 2014 (57.4%). Pitchers have thrown into the zone against Votto at a 48.4% rate this season, the most in-zone

pitches Votto has ever seen.

Said Votto to intrepid Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Zach Buchanan on May 9:

“I’ve got a lot of pitches out over the plate,” Votto said. “In this league, if you’re going to be tested, you have to answer quickly. I

feel like if you show signs of weakness, people attack that pretty quickly. I felt I was getting a lot of pitches and my instincts were to

swing. I think that was a good sign.”

In May, pitchers backed off, throwing 54.6% first-pitch strikes, and Votto’s walk rate has spiked to nearly 23%. After testing Votto

in a different way, they have seemingly backed off, and Votto has reverted to being Votto. Votto has become a more extreme

version of his former self, hardly swinging at any balls. He’s offered at just 13.2% pitches out of the zone in May and just over 41%

of pitches overall (42.5% career mark).

If you prefer visuals, here is a data-density chart of Votto’s swings in April, a beautiful heart-shaped — or perhaps it’s Ohio-shaped

— heat map:

In May, Votto has zeroed in in specific areas within the strike zone.

The data, the visuals, Votto’s statements: all of them seem to verify that he was able to effectively counterpunch. He posted a .322

isolated-slugging mark in April. He’s now back to being ultra-selective and hunting select zones in which he can do damage as

pitchers revert to the norm of carefully pitching to Votto.

He’s a counter puncher with a variety of counter measures, and it’s allowed him to dictate action, to influence events, even in a sport

where he doesn’t possess the ball.

FOX SPORTS Don’t rush to judgment on trades, just look at the Reds

Ken Rosenthal @ken_rosenthal

Jun 1, 2017 at 12:03p ET

As the trade season nears, it’s worth noting that deals only can be judged over time.

Case in point: The Cincinnati Reds.

Few in the industry applauded Walt Jocketty for a series of trades he made toward the end of his tenure as general manager. A

number of those moves, however, now look quite good.

I’m not about to oversell a team that is a distant last in the majors with a 5.95 rotation ERA, albeit with four starters on the disabled

list. Nor will I oversell Jocketty, who, like any executive had his clunkers, particularly with his failure to maximize the value of

closer Aroldis Chapman.

The Reds should have traded Chapman at the 2015 non-waiver deadline. They then panicked after learning of Chapman’s domestic-

violence incident that off-season, accepting a discounted return from the Yankees when they could have gotten far more — as the

Yankees did from the Cubs — at the ’16 deadline.

In the bigger picture, though, Jocketty fared quite well with his trades of third baseman Todd Frazier and right-handers Alfredo

Simon, Mike Leake and Mat Latos, and still might come out fine with his return for righty Johnny Cueto, too.

The Reds lead the majors in position-player WAR, according to Fangraphs, in part due to a number of players that Jocketty acquired

— third baseman Eugenio Suarez (Simon trade); right fielder Scott Schebler (Frazier) and left fielder Adam DuVall (Leake).

The three-team Frazier trade, in particular, bears revisiting.

On Dec. 16, 2015, the Reds sent Frazier to the White Sox and received Schebler and infielders Jose Peraza and Brandon Dixon from

the Dodgers, who in turn acquired outfielder Trayce Thompson, infielder Micah Johnson and right-hander Frankie Montas from the

White Sox.

I tweeted that day:

Immediate question: Why didn’t Reds take WhiteSox’s package instead of #Dodgers’? Rival execs think LAD did much better than

CIN.

I hardly was alone in such commentary, as this series of tweets demonstrates. But the Reds’ return, thanks largely to Schebler, now

looks like it will exceed the Dodgers’.

Thompson showed early promise, but currently is struggling at Triple-A after missing the second half of last season with a back

injury. He is the only player from the deal still with the Dodgers – Montas went to the Athletics in a deadline trade for left-hander

Rich Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick last summer, Johnson to the Braves for future considerations in January.

Schebler, meanwhile, is sitting on 16 homers and an .876 OPS. Peraza is the Reds’ everyday second baseman at 23 and starting to

show progress offensively. Dixon is at Triple A, and could wind up a utility man in the majors.

Not bad, eh?

Jocketty’s other scores include the acquisitions of Suarez and right-hander Anthony DeSclafani on the same day — Dec. 11, 2014

— in separate deals for Simon and Latos, both of whom were potential free agents. (Jocketty said the Reds definitely wanted to

trade Latos but not necessarily Simon, and jumped only when the Tigers agreed to part with Suarez).

Suarez moved from shortstop to third last season, improving his footwork and positioning with the help of Reds coaches Freddie

Benavides and Jim Riggleman. Duvall was playing first and third at Triple A with the Giants in 2015; the Reds, after acquiring him,

moved him to left field.

The Cueto trade, which brought the Reds left-handers Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed, has not worked out as well.

But Finnegan might return to the top of the Reds’ rotation once he recovers from a strained shoulder, and Reed — a “mystery” to

this point in Jocketty’s estimation — is starting again at Triple A (the Reds traded Lamb to the Rays for cash in November after he

underwent surgery to repair lumbar disc herniation; he will be out all of 2017).

Jocketty, who became an executive advisor with the Reds in December with Dick Williams taking over as GM, said that in 22 years

as a lead executive he learned the value of patience and persistence. He credits a variety of scouts and assistants when discussing his

trades — Marty Maier and Mike Squires liked Suarez, J Harrison was high on Duvall, Jeff Schugel pushed Schebler and Bruce

Manno — the Braves’ former assistant GM — recommended Peraza.

The Chapman deal still could yield a benefit, if righty Rookie Davis develops into a back-end starter. So could the Jay Bruce trade,

but to this point second baseman Dilson Herrera isn’t hitting at Triple A.

The lesson applies every July: Don’t judge trades so quickly. Things change over time.

TRANSACTIONS 06/01/17

Kansas City Royals optioned Hunter Dozier to Omaha Storm Chasers.

Minnesota Twins optioned RHP Ryan Pressly to Rochester Red Wings.

Cleveland Indians optioned RHP Shawn Armstrong to Columbus Clippers.

Cleveland Indians activated RHP Corey Kluber from the 10-day disabled list.

Los Angeles Dodgers recalled LHP Grant Dayton from Oklahoma City Dodgers.

Los Angeles Dodgers placed LHP Adam Liberatore on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to May 31, 2017. Left forearm tightness.

Boston Red Sox placed LHP Robbie Ross Jr. on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to May 19, 2017. Left elbow inflammation.

Los Angeles Dodgers sent RHP Brock Stewart on a rehab assignment to Oklahoma City Dodgers.

Miami Marlins activated LHP Jeff Locke from the 10-day disabled list.

Miami Marlins placed LHP Justin Nicolino on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to May 31, 2017. Left index finger contusion.

New York Yankees sent 1B Greg Bird on a rehab assignment to Tampa Yankees.

Texas Rangers traded 2B Josh Wilson to Cleveland Indians for cash.

Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Glenn Sparkman on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.

Toronto Blue Jays designated RHP Mike Bolsinger for assignment.

Toronto Blue Jays recalled Leonel Campos from Buffalo Bisons.

Cincinnati Reds sent LHP Tony Cingrani on a rehab assignment to Louisville Bats.

Cleveland Indians placed CF Lonnie Chisenhall on the 10-day disabled list. Concussion.

Minnesota Twins designated LHP Jason Wheeler for assignment.

Minnesota Twins selected the contract of RHP Alex Wimmers from Rochester Red Wings.

Kansas City Royals recalled RF Paulo Orlando from Omaha Storm Chasers.

Tampa Bay Rays activated 2B Brad Miller from the 10-day disabled list.

Arizona Diamondbacks optioned RHP Zack Godley to Reno Aces.

Pittsburgh Pirates optioned SS Gift Ngoepe to Indianapolis Indians.

Washington Nationals reassigned 1B Jose Marmolejos to the minor leagues.

Kansas City Royals placed RF Paulo Orlando on the 60-day disabled list.

Washington Nationals optioned 1B Jose Marmolejos to Harrisburg Senators.

Washington Nationals transferred CF Adam Eaton from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list. Strained left knee.

Arizona Diamondbacks recalled RHP Silvino Bracho from Reno Aces.

Los Angeles Angels optioned Mike Morin to Salt Lake Bees.

Los Angeles Angels placed LF Cameron Maybin on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to May 30, 2017. Left oblique muscle

contusion.

Los Angeles Angels activated RHP Alex Meyer from the 10-day disabled list.

Los Angeles Angels activated 3B Yunel Escobar from the 10-day disabled list.

Texas Rangers sent C Hanser Alberto on a rehab assignment to Frisco RoughRiders.

Minnesota Twins recalled Randy Rosario from Chattanooga Lookouts.