Reds Claim Ron Marinaccio, Chase Solesky

The Reds announced that they have claimed right-handers Ron Marinaccio and Chase Solesky off waivers from the Pirates and Rays, respectively. Solesky has been sent to Triple-A Louisville. Both pitchers were designated for assignment in recent days. Cincinnati had one open 40-man roster spot and opened another by transferring outfielder Blake Dunn to the 60-day injured list. Dunn recently underwent internal brace surgery and is done for the year.

Marinaccio, 31, has a good track record but is not having a good season. He entered the 2026 campaign with a 3.02 earned run average in 125 1/3 innings. He had a high 12.3% walk rate in that sample but also punched out 28.3% of batters faced.

He began this year with the Padres but his numbers regressed. He was designated for assignment a couple of weeks ago and traded to the Pirates for $500K in international bonus pool space. A little over a week later, the Bucs moved on. They acquired Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval, Kirby Yates and Lake Bachar ahead of the deadline and needed to clear some roster space, so Marinaccio was designated for assignment for a second time this year.

Between the Padres and Pirates, Marinaccio has thrown 52 1/3 innings this year with a 4.99 ERA. His 8.8% walk rate is a nice improvement for him but he has only punched out 18.4% of opponents, almost a ten-point drop from his previous work. Marinaccio is out of options, hence the bouncing around like this. Cincinnati will plug him right into the big league bullpen and see if he can get back on track. If it works out, he can be retained for three seasons beyond this one.

Solesky, 28, has a much shorter track record. He made his major league debut with the Rays in May. He made one appearance, allowing two earned runs in three innings. He has spent the rest of the year in Triple-A, logging 54 1/3 innings over 23 appearances with a 6.79 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 41.9% ground ball rate.

The numbers aren’t good and Solesky has never really been a top prospect. In June, the FanGraphs rundown of Rays prospects gave him an honorable mention, noting that he doesn’t have amazing stuff but is a good spot start option because he has strong command and is basically a lock to throw strikes.

Maybe that’s all the Reds want. They just put Hunter Greene back on the injured list, leaving them with a rotation of Chase Burns, Andrew Abbott, Rhett Lowder and Brady Singer. They are likely to get Nick Lodolo back from the IL next week but have a hole for the moment.

Greene’s turn in the rotation comes up tomorrow, so they may have to do some kind of bullpen game or call up a spot starter. Julian Aguiar is on the minor league injured list. Jose Franco was just optioned to the minors eight days ago and can’t be recalled for another week unless someone goes on the IL. It’s a tenuous depth situation, so perhaps Solesky will be called upon to help the Reds trudge through.