The Reds announced they have opted for the right-hander’s contract Jake Wong and remembered Righty Edward Salazar by Triple-A Louisville. In appropriate movements, right Levi Stoudt was sent to Louisville during his legal term Randy Wynne was intended for use.
Wong, 26, was drafted by the Giants and spent his entire career there prior to this season. In December, the Reds brought in the catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol from the Pirates in the Rule 5 draft and sent him to the Giants for cash or a player to be named later. About a week later, the Reds announced that Wong would become the PTBNL from this Sabol deal.
The right-hander played in the lower echelons of the Giants system in 2018 and 2019, but then missed two full seasons. The minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020 and then Wong spent all of 2021 on the injured list. Last year at High-A he pitched 97 2/3 innings in 25 appearances, including 17 starts, with a 4.52 ERA. His 10.3% walk rate was a bit high, but he knocked out 25.3% of opponents and got ground balls at 53.3% rate.
This year, the Reds essentially transitioned Wong to full-time temp work as he only ran 2 2/3 innings. Overall, he’s pitched for 34 1/3 innings in 17 appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A, but struggled on his first taste of the farm’s upper echelons. He has a 7.60 ERA between those two stops this year, beating 22.6% of opponents but walking 13%.
Despite poor results so far this year, the Reds called him up as they need fresh weapons. They allowed 24 runs in their three-game set against Atlanta over the weekend and none of their starters lasted more than four innings, leaving Relief Corps to absorb 16 2/3 frames in that series. They now have a three-game streak in Baltimore before their next day off and have called up Wong and Salazar to help them get through.
To get those weapons into the roster, the Reds dropped Wynne from the roster. He himself was added as a new signing just yesterday and made his major league debut. He threw 2 1/3 innings and allowed three hits, a walk and an earned run without registering a strikeout. Despite this respectable performance in his first major league game, he was quickly sacked due to the club’s overwhelmed pitching team.
The Reds now have a week to trade Wynne or pass him on through waivers. Before he was called up, he pitched 31 2/3 innings in Triple-A this year with a 5.12 ERA, 12.9% strikeout rate, 5% walk rate and 31 groundball rating ,8th %.