Reds interested in Cuban free agent Yariel Rodriguez

The Cincinnati Reds may be looking to bring in some more pitching this offseason and one target could be Cuban free agent Yariel Rodriguez. Cincinnati was scouting his throwing session back in October and must have liked what they saw because according to Francys Romero of MLB.com the Reds remain interested in the free agent reliever.

During his showcase for teams in October, Yariel Rodriguez showed off five pitches – a fastball, sliver, curveball, splitter, and a change up. His fastball, slider, and curveball all showed very high spin rates. The fastball also averaged 96.2 MPH.

Starting in 2015, Rodriguez spent six seasons pitching in Cuban before he headed to Japan to pitch from 2020-2022. The only competitive pitching he had in 2023 was with Cuba in the World Baseball Classic. Rodriguez wasn’t injured, but wanted to make the move to Major League Baseball and sat out the year in order to do so.

During his time in Japan he transitioned from a starting pitcher into a reliever. In his first season there he posted a 4.12 ERA in 59.0 innings. But in 2021 he lowered his ERA to 3.65 in 61.2 innings pitched. He really broke out in 2022, when as a 25-year-old he posted a 1.15 ERA in 54.2 innings while dramatically cutting down on his walks (just 18 of them – two being intentional) and not allowing a single home run in 56 games.

In the World Baseball Classic he face off against the Netherlands and Australia – starting both games – and allowed two runs in 7.1 innings while striking out 10 batters, but walking six.

With some past experience starting, but a strong relief background of late, it’s possible that Yariel Rodriguez could be similar to Nick Martinez in the sense that he could sign and compete for a spot in the rotation but fall back into the bullpen and at least early in the year if that happens, remain a potential starting option if one is needed.