The Reds announced that they have selected the right-hander’s contract Zach McCambley and he remembered his good friend Luis May. In a parallel movement, to the left Brandon Leibrandt and it’s okay Lyon Richardson they were selected for the assignment.
The Reds have been making a range of regular prices in recent days, as they try to make up for some injuries. on friday, Graham Ashcraft hit the 60-day injured list with a sprained UCL, club selects Yunior Marté to reinstate him. The next day, Pierce Johnson hit IL with elbow inflammation and the club named Richardson to their roster in his place, selecting Kyle Nicolas with an opening quota of 40 men. Yesterday, the club chose Leibrandt and appointed Marté to give him an assignment.
Chase Burns he was supposed to start yesterday’s game but was scratched due to illness. He has not been included in the IL and could start Wednesday’s game but the Reds had to improve yesterday. Richardson pitched the first inning, allowing four runs. Caleb Ferguson he threw two scoreless innings, followed by Leibrandt who struck out six and allowed five runs in a game the Reds lost to the Royals 9-2. Richardson and Leibrandt are now quickly knocked out of DFA limbo to get new arms in the mix.
Leibrandt, 33, now has 21 1/3 innings of big league experience in widespread fashion. He threw nine innings in five games for the Marlins in 2020, then pitched 6 1/3 for the Reds in 2024, followed by six yesterday. He has a 5.91 earned run average in that span. He has a 4.14 ERA in 385 Triple-A innings and has bounced back to independent ball and Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League.
Richardson, 26, was the Reds’ second-round pick back in 2018. He worked hard as a starter as he moved up the league ladder but struggled in that role when he reached Triple-A. By 2025, he was in an early relief role with mixed results. He threw 32 Triple-A innings with a 4.22 ERA. His 23.5% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate were both average and his 50% strikeout rate was quite strong. In 37 2/3 innings in the majors, he got ground balls at a similar clip but his 17.4% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate were both low.
He ran out of his final option year in 2025 and the Reds were able to sign him off the roster in the offseason. He started this year as a depth prospect, throwing 30 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.75 ERA. His 10.7% walk rate was slightly higher but he struck out 26% of opponents while striking out 48.7% of balls in play. The poor ERA was partly due to an unfortunate 52.5% strikeout rate, which is why his 3.62 FIP painted a very flattering picture.
That got him back into high culture but it was just one exit as an emergency hatch. He will probably end up back on the waiver wire. Having just resigned in January, he could resign again, unless the club gets bitten by injuries. Having already struck out once in his career, he will now be eligible to opt for free agency if he makes another appearance in the coming days.
McCambley, 27, has spent most of his career in the Marlins organization until recently. The Phillies took him in the Rule 5 draft but he was traded back to the Marlins at the end of spring training. He was traded to the Reds last month for an outfielder Rece Hinds.
His Triple-A numbers have been encouraging without being out of control. Between the Marlins and Reds this year, he threw a minor league-high 30 1/3 innings with a 2.37 ERA. He gave up a free pass to 14.9% of opponents but struck out 30.6% of the batters he faced while striking out 53.4% of the balls in play. The ERA is good but he earned a .254 batting average on balls in play and an 86.6% strand rate, so his 4.54 FIP is almost double his ERA. It’s been a strange few months in terms of trades but now he has a chance to make his big league debut.
Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images
