Cincinnati Reds add RHP Cam Bedrosian on minor league deal

Pitchers and catchers are slated to report to spring camps across the country this week, and today the Cincinnati Reds added another name to their list. Cam Bedrosian, a veteran righty reliever formerly of the Los Angeles Angels, was signed to a minor league contract with an invite to camp in Goodyear, Arizona.

The Reds announced the move themselves on Twitter.

Bedrosian, 29, has fired 277.2 IP of relief work since his big league debut in 2014, and the former 1st round pick has been largely successful in that time on the mound. He’s the owner of a career 3.70 ERA and 3.60 FIP, with a 3.41 ERA (130 ERA+) in 140 IP since the start of the 2018 season.

He has battled through several injuries - an adductor strain last year limited him to just 14.2 IP - and his career-low 92.3 average fastball velocity during the 2020 season is something of a red flag. It may well be related to the Angels decision to outright him off the roster after the season, something that may well have simply been a precursor to an eventual non-tender in his final year of arbitration eligibility.

When right, though, Bedrosian will sit 93-95 with a fastball he leans on for over half his pitches, with a heavy dose of a slider mixed in with it. And if you’re wondering if he fits the Spincinnati mold that’s been created with Kyle Boddy and the Driveline team in charge of pitching coordination, the short answer is...yes. From 2017-2019, he consistently fired a fastball rated no worse than the 72nd percentile in spin rate (with not enough data from 2020 to qualify).

His career 10.4 K/9 shows a proclivity to miss plenty of bats, and if healthy, he sure profiles as a player who’ll make the Reds roster when all is said and done. If so, he’ll join Noe Ramirez as former Angels in the Reds bullpen this year, the latter coming over in the deal that sent Raisel Iglesias west.