Louisville could help staff

[missionhockey21]

Louisville could help staff
40-man roster hinders moves, but Booker, Kelly and Shearn worth a look

By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

PHILADELPHIA - As the Reds continue to search for answers to the pitching woes, it's pretty shocking to see some of the numbers of pitchers at Louisville:

Chris Booker, 2-0, 2.70 ERA, nine hits and 21 strikeouts in 162/3 innings.

Steve Kelly, 3-1, 2.20 ERA, 29 hits and 31 strikeouts in 41 innings.

Tom Shearn, 1-3, 3.55 ERA, 20 hits and 29 strikeouts in 251/3 innings.

So you may be asking yourself why in the name of Nolan Ryan did the Reds bring up Todd Coffey when Ben Weber went on the disabled list?

Coffey struggled in his first stint with the Reds, struggled when he returned to Louisville and struggled since he has returned. Giving up four runs in one inning, as Coffey did Friday, is much worse than struggling but we're a family newspaper.

But I digress. Why Coffey and not Kelly, Booker or Shearn?

The 40-man roster is the answer. Coffey is on it; Kelly, Booker and Shearn are not.

"It's a factor," Reds general manager Dan O'Brien said. "But we've got another factor in that we have two players on the 60-day disabled list (Jung Keun Bong and Ray Olmedo), so they aren't counted against the 40-man. They're going to have to go back on at some point."

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[Slyder]

That is a good assessment, do you have to put someone on waivers if they are taken off the 40 man for someone (like Olemado) coming back from an injury? Plus with our excess at MI I would just leave Olemado off of it and put one of the pitchers and call them up for (insert starter here).

[redsrbetter]

Yeah, I believe that the players do have to go through waivers to get off the 40 man. Just like the 25 man. Somehow, Booker and Kelly are going to have to get on the roster.