Justin Dunn is hoping to become another formidable MLBbro on the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff. The 27-year-old melanated mound marauder has been on the verge of a breakout season since entering the league with a live arm and high expectations back in 2019. Fast forward to 2023 and Dunn’s ascension has been slowed by the injury bug. The former Seattle Mariners star prospect hasn’t pitched more than 50.1 innings in a season.
When the Cincinnati Reds acquired Dunn in the Eugenio Suárez trade with the Seattle Mariners last year, general manager Nick Krall knew that Dunn was battling a major shoulder injury, but Reds’ brass was being optimistic and taking a chance on a pitcher who hasn’t logged many innings in his career. They projected the Freeport, NY native as a solid rotation piece as the Reds try to rebuild into a contending squad.
It’s not like Dunn hasn’t had prolonged stretches where he’s proven that he can be a top starter.
Dunn Has Shown Stretches Of Brilliance
From August 23, 2020, through May of the 2021 season, Dunn allowed three or fewer runs over 15 starts to lead the American League.
Dunn’s streak was also the fourth-longest such streak in Mariners’ history trailing Seattle legend Felix Hernandez, Roenis Elías and Erik Bedard.It appeared as if Dunn had found his next level, along with his budding Mariners squad. In 2021, Dunn and his former Seattle teammate MLBbro Justus Sheffield were part of only two rotations in baseball to feature multiple Black starters. The Mets featured the charismatic technician Marcus Stroman and heat-toting Taijuan Walker.
Then came the shoulder injury, which derailed his ascension and now, a year after the Reds took a shot on him, Dunn is dealing with the same issue in his right shoulder, a combination of inflammation and subscapularis.
The team expects him to be out for a few months rehabbing. Dunn has never been the most intimidating pitcher, so he’s used to people doubting him and knocking him for not measuring up to the metrics. Those funny numbers that overlook winning attributes such as natural talent and heart.
Reds Doctors Won’t Rush Dunn Back To The Mound
According to spring training reports, Dunn is positive about a quick recovery, but doctors are guarding against a premature return.
“(The specialist) was making it seem that the inflammation wasn’t as bad but I believe there might be an actual tear in there, which is why it’s taking so long,” Dunn told reporters. “He said my shoulder actually felt pretty good. It was just a couple of tests that he did that I didn’t pass. He was like, we’ve got to let it heal before we can let you pick up a ball.”
The Reds could certainly use Dunn sooner rather than later. He’s only pitched in seven games since the middle of the 2021 season.
“I just have to get with the team and get a plan of action for what we’re going to do,” Dunn said. “Give it the right amount of time for it to heal and if I rush this, it’s not going to be a good situation. Unfortunately, it’s just the situation we’re in. One day at a time.”
Ironically, Dunn’s specialist told him that he has only seen one other pitcher with a similar injury and that was NY Mets Black Ace Dwight Gooden, who had a brilliant 16-year MLB career.
“(The specialist) explained the surgery and it scared the (heck) out of me frankly,” Dunn said. “He said, ‘I don’t want to do this. I don’t think you need it. You’re too young. You have a lot of baseball ahead of you.’ That’s for when your back is against the wall, and you’re fighting for a couple of more years. I was very thankful to hear that.”
This is a rough luck situation for Dunn who basically had an open lane to a starting position in the Reds’ rotation. In his last real action, the former Top 100 prospect had a 3.75 ERA.
Let’s hope this talented pitcher can get healthy and put together a full season on the mound. If he ever does, he’s sure to finally get his due.
Rob Parker remembers the MLBbro Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan. The diminutive dynamo was the catalyst for the Cincinatti Reds “Big Red Machine” that won six National West Division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series between 1970 and 1979. Morgan won two NL MVPs and is among the greatest second baseman of all-time.
Hunter Greene’s no-hit performance in Cincinnati still left the MLBbro and his team seeing red Sunday. The broken Red Machine lost 1-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates despite wasting the melanated mound marauder’s best start of the season, where he combined with Art Warren for a no-hitter at PNC Park.
Greene lived up to the hype by spotting his 100-plus mph fastball consistently and keeping the Bucs bats off balance through 7 ⅓ innings of dominance.
Reds manager David Bell pulled Greene after 118 pitches in the eighth inning although his heat was still being clocked at 98 mph. He also featured an electric slider that frustrated Pittsburgh batters as well all afternoon.
After Greene walked two batters in the eighth and stretched his arm after the second, Reds manager David Bell decided to pull him from the game. Warren delivered what should’ve have been a double-play ball that ended the inning. However, Reds second baseman Alejo Lopez mishandled the chance so they only got one out. Ke’Bryan Hayes then scored from third base and the Pirates took a 1-0 lead which would be the difference in the game.
“(I’ll) continue to stick with the process, I think that’s where my peace is as a player and as a person,” Green said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer, following the rookie’s gem performance that was squandered by MLB’s worst team. “That’ll always be there, so I take a lot of pride in that and the work that I’ve put in. Yeah, it would’ve been great to have a different result, but it is what it is. This is my team, ride or die with them.”
Greene is committed to being the cornerstone of the franchise and wants to lead the Reds to future success by enduring these tough times and establishing some respect for one of baseball’s oldest franchises.
Greene remains the youngest player in baseball, but his stuff is beyond his years. His fastball was clocked at 105 mph when he was in high school but the young thoroughbred continues to give Cincinnati fans a reason to stay locked in amidst a dismal season where they dropped to 9-26.
This was the fifth time in MLB history where a team lost despite no-hitting the opposition and the first since 2008.
MLBbro.com has been anxiously anticipating Greene’s rookie season and he has not disappointed.
Tommy Pham has never been the type of player to hold his tongue. So when reporters asked the Cincinnati Reds outfielder what his goals were for the upcoming 2022 season, Pham had no issue saying exactly what was on his mind.
“I’m playing to get some numbers, I don’t care about anything else,” the outspoken Pham told reporters. “I got to look out for me. At the end of the day baseball is going to move on without me. I got to get mine right now.”
A few years ago, this statement would have sounded absurd coming from Tommy.
Fresh off three consecutive 20-homer seasons, Pham was traded to San Diego and considered a key part of their young exciting ball club.
Unfortunately for Pham, when the games started to matter in San Diego, he struggled. Combine his below average play–he hit .229 with 15 homers and 49 RBI–with an unfortunate stabbing incident, and his once bright career seems to be quickly declining.
But don’t tell that to Tommy.
“It’s easy to say my best days are behind me.” Pham said. “But from an athletic standpoint, physically I can still run and I still have my athleticism there when we tested it this offseason. So I’m still expecting big things from myself within this game. So this is a big year for me to prove it to myself as well.”
When he joined the Cincinnati Reds this season, the nine-year veteran expected to prove everyone wrong, and his me-first approach didn’t sound like such a bad idea if his production helped the Reds win some games. A solid season would probably score him a nice bag. However, a 1 for 26 start at the plate and a minuscule .038 batting average isn’t exactly what Pham had in mind.
“Yeah, I’m frustrated, man,” Pham said. “Frustrated. I just have to swing at strikes, put better swings on the ball and I’ll be all right.”
If Pham is going to be rewarded for a bounce back season, chances are it won’t be in Cincinnati. While the Reds are one of the staple franchises in MLB history, Cincinnati hasn’t won a playoff series since 1995 and have only five winning seasons since Bob Castellini’s ownership group purchased the team in 2006.
Fresh off the start of another rebuild, big money investments aren’t high on the Red’s to-do list. Fans who’ve voiced their displeasure with the ownership group were enraged even more by the comments of Team President Phil Castellini before the home opener.
“Well, where are you going to go? Let’s start there,” a defiant Phil Castellini told Cincinnati radio.“Let’s start there… If you want to look at what would you do with this team to have it be more profitable, make more money, compete more in the current economic system that this game exists? It would be to pick it up and move it somewhere else.”
Castellini tried to walk back these comments, but for many the damage has already been done.
Now many will ask why does this matter if Pham is more concerned with his financial future than winning a World Series? Simply put, if Tommy expects to receive one last payday, he’ll probably have to set his sights beyond Cincy.
I find it hard to believe that an ownership group who has publicly complained about the current economic system in baseball–aka paying players their market value–would be willing to give a player headed into his 10th season a big contract.
Fortunately for Pham, he’s not looking for somewhere to spend the twilight of his career being praised before riding off into the sunset. He just wants to get paid.
Cincinnati Reds rookie sensation Hunter Greene, the 2017 MLB Draft No.2 overall pick didn’t disappoint in his MLB debut, striking out seven in five innings for the win.
Recent Comments