Game Report: Cody Reed

GENEVA, Ill.—He’s struck out 31 batters and walked none now through 17 2/3 innings. But don’t expect Cody Reed to be satisfied.

“Everything always needs work,” the 19-year-old lefthander said following Thursday’s 6-2 win for low Class A Kane County (Diamondbacks) over Fort Wayne (Padres). “Tonight, I had a pretty good outing, but you noticed some of the hits—even the ground balls and fly outs, I left (the ball) inner half and they got on it.”

That modesty was typical of the 19-year-old Ardmore, Ala., native. But it’s tough to find something to criticize through his first three full-season starts.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder has allowed just 10 hits and one earned run in three starts and has shown pinpoint command. Seventy of his 90 pitches Thursday were strikes.

Reed, Arizona’s second-round pick in 2014 out of high school, isn’t overpowering. His fastball topped at 91 on Thursday, and his changeup is an above-average pitch with good, late fade. What he has is deception by way of an unusual delivery, which makes it appear as though the ball is coming out of his hip.

He told Paul Johnson of the Aurora-Beacon News recently that he has “messed-up mechanics,” but clarified that Thursday.

“A lot of people took it as (though I meant) bad mechanics,” Reed said. “I meant funky, awkward mechanics.” Asked if that helps add deception, Reed said, “I’ve heard that a lot, but I just go out there and pitch.”

Pitching coach Rich Sauveur, the former big league hurler, agreed the delivery is unusual and compared Reed to another large, funky lefthander.

“I see a Sid Fernandez lookalike,” Sauveur said. “I see this guy, (and) you don’t see a lot of guys like that, you really don’t. He’s another mold of Sid Fernandez with that low three-quarters delivery. It’s almost—I know the ball’s not rising—but something’s going on because these guys don’t get to it.

“He hides the ball well … it’s a different delivery.”

Reed raises his arms far above his head—a timing mechanism he’s used since he was a kid—then coils his big body and unleashes the pitch from that low, three-quarters slot. Despite the funk, he does a good job of staying online to the plate and repeats the delivery well.

He credits his youth coach Ricky Diehl, from Hunstville, Ala., for helping him shorten his delivery.

“Shoot, I used to get long, real long, when I was nine to 12 years old. I was really long,” he said. “My stride was huge. But then I went to a pitching coach (Diehl) and he got me to use my back leg more.”

One change that is evident is Reed’s conditioning. Scouts noted that his body needed work, and Reed has put that work in, Sauveur said.

“I didn’t know him until a month and a half ago, and I’ll tell you, he’s worked hard to get in shape,” Sauveur said. “He has set a goal to pitch in the majors. He came up here (after extended spring training because of a blister) and he’s got a cockiness to him that’s acceptable. There’s a line and he’s right there underneath it.”

Reed has four pitches, but has primarily used the fastball and change. On Thursday, he threw the curveball and slider more, noticing that Fort Wayne’s big bats, such as Brad Zunica, struggled with those offerings.

Those are pitches Sauveur wants him to work on.

“He needs to improve the breaking ball. It’s below average right now,” Sauveur said, speaking specifically about the curveball. “What’s beneficial is he throws it in a game; it’s not his out pitch, but it’s another pitch to think about. … we’re working on keeping the same arm slot. We found that his arm slot got a little higher when he threw the curveball, and when you get to higher ranks, even Double-A, those hitters are going to recognize that.”

Even with all his success to this point, Reed agreed.

“I’m working on getting my fastball more inside to righties. Everybody always has something to work on.”

NEWS AND NOTES


• Logan Allen, San Diego’s No. 8 prospect and one of four players acquired from Boston for Craig Kimbrel last November, started opposite Reed and had some good moments. He flashed a fastball up to 91 mph and spun a tight curveball. He was let down by his defense and ended up allowing six hits and three runs—one earned—in four innings. He struck out four and walked none.

• Ruddy Giron, San Diego’s No. 4 prospect, was 1-for-3 Thursday and made a nice play in the field, sticking with a hard grounder off the chest and throwing out the batter at first. He showed good field awareness and a strong throwing arm. Giron, however, is struggling in his second stint at low Class A, hitting just .188.