Newly claimed righty Jake Reed sinker gets a "ton of sink"

Image courtesy of the LA Times

The Red Sox made their third wavier claim since the season came to an end on Thursday night. The club claimed right-handed pitcher Jake Reed from the Orioles, while designating Eduard Bazardo for assignment.

Reed appeared with two other teams in addition to the O’s, the Dodgers and Mets. He would finish with 7.02 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, surrendering 13 earned runs, eight walks and struck out 13 batters in 10 games.

One thing that Red Sox fans can look to regarding Reed is his unique delivery to the plate. He features a combo of a sidearm and short-arm type action when he pitches.

The Arizona native throws a sinker and slider while mixing in an occasional four-seam fastball and changeup. His sinker sits 87–88 mph and tops out around 90 mph. According to FanGraphs, his low arm slot when throwing his sinker, the ball gets a “ton of sink.”

Morrie Silver @MorrieSilver

Two former @RocRedWings fan favorites picked up saves in Major League Baseball last night. Jake Reed locked down the @Dodgers’ win over the @Mets and Chase De Jong logged his save against the @Brewers as a member of the @Pirates. Jake was pumped⬇️

Reed is another low risk waiver pick up for Chaim Bloom. The Red Sox front office is looking to improve the clubs bullpen for the 2023 season.

Red Sox @RedSox

If you're looking for John Schreiber, you can find him at the electric factory. ⚡️

Could Reed figure it out with the Red Sox similar to John Schreiber? It’s possible. Prior to coming to Boston, he owned a 6-plus career ERA. This past season, Schreiber was arguably the Sox best reliever.

FanGraph’s Eric Longenhagen had this to say about Reed back in 2017.

“Reed has setup man stuff. His mid-90s fastball will touch 97 and features considerable arm-side run. He also features an above-average slider with slicing two-plane movement. Reed’s arm slot is low and left-handed hitters pick up the ball early out of his hand, which may limit his big-league role in spite Reed’s solid average changeup which, in theory, should mitigate his platoon issues.”

Schreiber and Reed have similar pitching styles. Honestly, Reed looks more like former big league pitcher Darren O’Day on the mound.

If the Red Sox can help Reed figure it out, they may have found a diamond in the rough on the waiver wire.

The 6-foot-2 reliever still has a player option remaining. Bloom will have the ability to shuffle Reed between Boston and Triple-A Worcester.

Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisHenrique

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