Right-handed pitcher Ben Lively has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A, the Reds announced on Wednesday. He does not have the necessary service time to reject the outright assignment immediately, but he will have the opportunity to elect minor league free agency following the conclusion of the World Series.
Lively is the sixth player the Reds have outrighted this offseason, following Vladimir Gutierrez, Alan Busenitz, Justin Dunn, Brett Kennedy, and Connor Overton. However, he is the most noteworthy of the outright decisions, having played a significant role for the major league club in 2023. The 31-year-old ranked sixth on the team with 88 2/3 innings pitched. Appearing in his first MLB season since 2019, Lively pitched in 19 games (12 starts), posting a poor 5.38 ERA but a more respectable 4.33 SIERA.
After three seasons in the KBO, Lively returned to MLB in 2022 on a minor-league deal with the Reds – the team that first drafted him back in 2014. He spent the season at Triple-A and re-upped with Cincinnati the following winter. Finally, in mid-May 2023, more than four years since he last threw a pitch in the majors, Lively had his contract selected by the big league team. Unfortunately, a couple of stints on the injured list interrupted his comeback season, and as evidenced by his inflated ERA, the righty never quite found his groove.
While his 2023 stat line isn’t overly impressive, Lively proved he can still eat innings at the major league level. On top of that, a few of his underlying metrics (3.16 K/BB, 4.42 xFIP) suggest he might be capable of a little more. Thus, he should have some suitors this winter, although he may have to settle for another minor league deal.
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