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The Reds announced today that they will swapping some Kevins around in their bullpen, as Kevin Shackelford has successfully completed his rehab assignment and has been activated on the 25-man roster.
To make room, Kevin Quackenbush gets designated for assignment.
The #Reds have returned from a rehab assignment and activated from the 10-day disabled list RHP Kevin Shackelford.
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 24, 2018
RHP Kevin Quackenbush has been designated for assignment. pic.twitter.com/GNjEdWwS91
Quackenbush signed a minor league deal with the Reds back in November and survived all of the cuts through Spring Training, and then ultimately made the team, in no small part because guys like Shackelford, Michael Lorenzen, and David Hernandez landed on the disabled list ahead of him.
It did not go well for the Quack in Cincinnati, however. He seemed to consistently be put into games with a lot riding on the line (which is no fault of his own), and then he consistently blew the opportunities he was presented (which is totally his a fault.
Maybe the best and ugliest illustration of this came just two days ago when Quackenbush was called upon in the bottom of the 7th inning in St. Louis in a one-run game. He gave up three runs in the inning and then, when tossed back out there for another go at it, added three more to his ledger in 8th, which put all of the nails in the Reds coffin.
He ends his tenure in Cincinnati with an 11.00 ERA in nine innings pitched (10 appearances), a 7.96 FIP, and 2.111 WHIP.
Shackelford made his Major League debut with the Reds in 2017, where he pitched 30.2 innings of 4.70 ERA ball (94 ERA+) which, in the grand scheme of the Reds bullpen, isn’t all that bad of an audition. He made four minor league rehab starts while on the DL that weren’t necessarily all that pretty (zero earned runs in the first two games, three across 2.1 IP in his last two), but screw it, minor league rehab stats mean nothing. Nope, not a thing.
Shackelford works a fastball in the 93-95 MPH range and can ramp it up higher at times. He’s got a slider that works, too. He’s an older guy, as far as “prospects” go, as he just had his 29th birthday earlier this month. So, if he’s going to have a future with the Reds, he’s gotta show it sooner than later.