The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed lefty Bennett Sousa off waivers from the White Sox. Chicago had designated him for assignment on Monday when finalizing their one-year deal with Elvis Andrus. Cincinnati placed right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez, who underwent Tommy John surgery last July, on the 60-day injured list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
The 27-year-old Sousa made his MLB debut with the Sox last year but was knocked around for 19 runs on 25 hits and 10 walks in 25 1/3 frames — an 8.31 ERA. Ugly as that showing was, he’s regularly turned in sub-4.00 ERAs in the upper minors while displaying above-average strikeout and ground-ball rates. Command issues have plagued him at times, however, and while Sousa looked to have turned a corner with a tiny 5.3% walk rate in 2021, he walked 10.3% of his opponent in a similar sample size of Triple-A innings this past season.
Overall, Sousa has a 3.96 ERA, a 32.2% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate in 50 Triple-A frames, in addition to a 2.96 ERA, 35.6% strikeout rate and 13.9% walk rate in 27 1/3 innings at the Double-A level. Sousa has a pair of minor league option years remaining and averaged a solid 94.3 mph on his heater in the big leagues last year. Paired with his 11.7% swinging-strike rate (and history of missing bats in the minors) there could be improvement on the horizon for the unsightly 12.5% strikeout rate he posted in the Majors last year.
Sousa joins Reiver Sanmartin as a lefty option for manager David Bell’s bullpen. That’s the only pair of southpaw options on the 40-man roster — outside of prospect Brandon Williamson, who’ll surely continue to be utilized as a starter — but Sousa will have competition in camp in the form of non-roster invitees like Daniel Norris and Alex Young.
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