Seth Varner Gets Fallback Chance

CINCINNATI—Lefthander Seth Varner knows he has a tendency to let things snowball when they’re not going his way, so his Triple-A Louisville debut last July couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. He allowed his first batter to reach after committing an error.

“He bunted, it skipped and ate me up and from there I never got comfortable,” said Varner, 25. “They piled on.”

Varner then threw a wild pitch, walked a batter, allowed four singles, then a double before being pulled without recording an out. He was charged with five runs (four earned) and took the loss.

“When outings start getting off the wrong way, I start worrying about results and start blaming things instead of worrying about myself and making sure I’m making a quality pitch with each pitch,” said Varner, a 10th-round pick in 2014 from Miami.

He had been called up after a rainout pushed back his start at high Class A Daytona, where he went 4-4, 3.30 in 19 games and 12 starts to that point.

“We did throw him out there when we got really short at Triple-A,” farm director Jeff Graupe said. “He probably wasn’t quite (ready). To his credit, he took some really good notes from those two starts and understands what he needs to do to continue to develop. Hopefully, with a couple of rough days, he can be better for it.”

Back in Daytona, Varner allowed a total of 14 earned runs in 14.2 innings over his next there starts. But he then finished the season going 4-2, 3.15 over his final seven starts to earn an invite to the Arizona Fall League.

In the AFL he made six starts, with similar up-and-down results.

Those struggles, Varner said, have helped. He succeeded at two Class A stops in 2015 and 2016 prior to his promotion to Louisville. He blazed through the Midwest League in 2015 to earn a promotion to Daytona.

“Things went so smoothly for a year, so I got a little lackadaisical,” Varner said. “It’s really helping me find myself.”

RED HOTS

• Righthander Carlos Gonzalez was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a banned stimulant.

• Righthander Zack Weiss had right elbow surgery, but it was not for his ulnar collateral ligament. The Reds expect him to return in 2017 after missing all of 2016.

— C. Trent Rosecrans covers the Reds for the Cincinnati Enquirer