Reds add more pitching depth with another signing
While Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall has said that he doesn’t expect the club to make any major moves this offseason, the Reds aren’t finished making moves. They’ve continued to make minor league signings and added another one this week by bringing back right-handed reliever Alan Busenitz on a new minor league deal.
After spending four years pitching in Japan, Busenitz returned to the United States and signed with Cincinnati on January 2nd. A year and a day later he re-signed with the club on another minor league deal and he’ll be looking to do something similar to what he was able to accomplish in 2023 – get back to the big leagues.
Starting the season in the bullpen for the Triple-A Louisville Bats, it wasn’t long until Alan Busenitz was on the big league club’s roster. He was called up in mid-May and made four appearances for the Reds in a 2-week span, giving up two runs in 4.0 innings while striking out three batters and issuing an intentional walk. Cincinnati would option him to the minors on May 26th. A little less than a month later he was called back up, but he didn’t pitch in his three days with the team and headed back to Louisville. Two months later he got the call up again and he threw a shutout inning in a win against Cleveland, but was sent back to Triple-A three days later.
The club would designate him for assignment on September 1st and he cleared waivers and accepted his outright to Triple-A. Cincinnati, in need of more pitching, called him back up on October 1st and he rewarded them with 2.0 perfect innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in the final game of the season. In total he threw 7.0 innings for the Reds and allowed just two runs (2.57 ERA). You can see his career stats here.
