Cody Reed

Position: LHP
Born: 4/15/1993
Height: 6'5
Weight: 225
B/T: L/L
Acquired: Via trade from the Royals, along with LHPs Brandon Finnegan and John Lamb, for RHP Johnny Cueto (CIN). Originally drafted in the second round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft (KCR).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
CURRENT SEASON STATS: 6-3 with a 3.20 ERA in 11 starts at Louisville (Triple-A), striking out 63 and walking 17 in 64 .2 IP while allowing 59 hits.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Contract purchased from Louisville June 18 when LHP Dayan Diaz was outrighted.
MLB Debut Date: 6/18/2016

Debut Details
June 18, in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to the Houston Astros. The starting pitcher, he did not get a decision, allowing four runs, all earned, on six hits in seven innings, walking three while striking out nine. He also committed one balk and of 92 pitches, 62 were for strikes. Reed walked the first player he faced, George Springer, and Marwin Gonzalez followed with a two-run homer to left field., but Reed settled down after that welcome to the big leagues. He retired the next three batters — Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Carlos Gomez — with a fly out, strikeout and groundout respectively. Reed kept the Astros off the board over the next four innings, scattering three hits over that time, before Houston struck for its final two runs of regulation which came on Evan Gattis’ two-run home to left field. Josh Smith came on to start the eighth in relief of Reed with the score tied at 2-2.

Player Notes
Let’s tackle Reed’s on-field status first before we have a little name-game fun. He came to Louisville after a terrific 2015 campaign which saw him make three stops with a trade in the middle — Wilmington (High A/Royals), Northwest Arkansas (Double-A/Royals) and Pensacola (Double-A/Reds), combining for a 2.41 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 145.2 IP, allowing 127 hits and walking 42. With a fastball in the 90s with late life and a plus slider as his out pitch, he’s got a power arm coupled with a clean delivery. He is also the guy most likely to have his stats confused with another pitcher (well, technically, one of two) since he’s not only one of two Cody Reeds pitching these days but one of two Cody A. Reeds — the other one is with the High A Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks). To avoid confusion, many refer to the Reds pitcher as “Mississippi Reed” while the Diamondbacks hurler is “Alabama Reed,” and you’ve got to admit, those sound pretty badass. Am I the only one here taking a walk down baseball pitcher memory lane and remembering “Mississippi Mike Smith” and “Texas Mike Smith”? They actually shared the same middle name as well — Anthony — making it crucial to have a defining nickname. Now, I know that THIS Cody Reed’s middle name is Austin but I can’t seem to find the Arizona pitcher’s middle name. Maybe it’s Austin. Maybe it’s Adam or Anthony or Allen. But frankly, I like “Mississippi” and “Alabama”, so let’s just go with that.

2080 Notes
Another member of this week’s debutante crop who made it onto 2080 Baseball’s Preseason Top 125 Prospect Rankling List, Reed came in at No. 58 and C.J. Wittmann had this to say about him: ‘Reed began 2015 as an under-the-radar arm the Royals’ system, Reed showed the ability to command a solid-average fastball, plus slider and average changeup, he was quickly noticed. Reed was the centerpiece of the Cueto deal that brought the one-time ace to Kansas City as part of their march to the World Series title last year. There was a reason why he was so heralded by Cincinnati.