The Cincinnati Reds finally welcomed back some proven reinforcement to their overworked bullpen on Monday afternoon ahead of their series against the Milwaukee Brewers in Great American Ball Park.
Veteran righty Pierce Johnson was activated off the 15-day IL, while the Reds also chose to select the contract of righty Julian Garcia from AAA Louisville. Making way on the active roster were Zach Maxwell, who was optioned back to AAA, and Chris Paddack, who was designated for assignment.
The Reds announced the moves on Twitter.
Johnson last pitched for the Reds on May 26th, landing on the injured list with an elbow issue shortly thereafter. He only pitched in a single game on rehab with Louisville, allowing a run on two hits (with a strikeout), but apparently that’s enough for the club and the 35 year old to know that he’s ready once again to tackle big league hitters.
Garcia, though, is a whole different story. The 31 year old will be making his big league debut the moment he takes the mound in a Reds uniform, a former 10th round pick out of Metro State in Denver who spent most of the 2024 and 2025 seasons pitching for the Kansas City Monarchs in indy ball. While at Louisville this year, though, the slide-piece specialist strug out 54 in just 35.2 IP while pitching to a 3.03 ERA, and even has been good at limiting walks (12) in a way no other Reds reliever can really claim. Obviously, it will be quite the story to follow to see if the Reds have uncovered a diamond in the rough with him.
As for the other moves, Maxwell struggled mightily in this stint with the Reds and will return to the minors to sort things out. Paddack, meanwhile, will almost certainly move on to another organization after being signed to help rescue the starting rotation in May when it was dealt a number of costly blows. His role had been reduced to mop-up duty after his final start on May 29th, and pitching out of the bullpen did no favors to him or to the Reds. He will, though, potentially go down in Reds lore for teaching Chase Burns a new changeup, something that was on full display on Sunday in the Reds victory over the New York Yankees in the Bronx.
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