Reds sign left-handed pitcher Tyler Gilbert

The Cincinnati Reds just keep adding pitching and today is no different as they signed left-handed pitcher Tyler Gilbert to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training. The reliever has spent the past three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tyler Gilbert was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, but Arizona selected him in the minor league Rule 5 draft in 2020. After spending the first half of that season in Triple-A as a starter, he was called up by the Diamondbacks to pitch out of their bullpen at the start of August. He made three relief appearances that first week, but his next outing was a start against San Diego. In just his 4th big league game, and his 1st big league start, he fired off a no-hitter. He would make five more starts after that before the season came to an end.

After throwing 40 innings with Arizona in 2021 to go along with a 3.15 ERA, he failed to make the team out of spring training in 2022. It wasn’t long before he was back in the big leagues, making two appearances in April, but he was back-and-forth between Triple-A and the bigs for the entirety of the first half – being called up four different times and pitching in eight games. That final time he was called up was in early July and he made three starts before the All-Star break, and then one after. But it was in that final start on July 26th that he injured his elbow and he missed the rest of the season.

Last season he began the year in Triple-A and he spent all of April, May, and June in the minors where he split time between the rotation and bullpen for the Reno Aces. Arizona called him up in early July and he made 11 appearances out of their bullpen, posting a 5.19 ERA in 17.1 innings with 19 strikeouts and five walks. In the middle of August he was optioned back to Triple-A and he would finish out his season there.

In 2023 he struggled against lefties and dominated righties- at least at the big league level. The sample size was small, but lefties hit .444 and slugged .778 against him. Right-handed hitters had a .654 OPS against him with 12 strikeouts in just 43 plate appearances. That wasn’t the case in the minors where lefties had an OPS of .578 against him, but righties put up an OPS of .928. You can see his career stats here.

In 2023 his velocity ticked up from where it had been in the past. IN his previous two seasons in the big leagues he did not average 90 MPH with his fastball, falling just shy of the round number. But in 2023 he averaged 91.9 and 91.7 MPH with his 4-seamer and his 2-seamer. His change up/splitter, curveball, and cutter were all also faster than in the past. His cut fastball also picked up some extra spin, but his other pitches didn’t.

It’s tough to see where Tyler Gilbert fits in on the team if everyone is healthy. But that’s the thing with pitching…. it’s almost never that way. And for the first time in what seems like forever, the Reds are building depth with that in mind. Gilbert adds to that depth – he’s got big league experience, some big league success in the past, and he’s had time filling both the starting and relieving roles.