Cincinnati Reds Promote Cody Reed to Major Leagues

Courtesy of RedReporter.com

Cody Reed, the highest draft choice in Northwest Mississippi Community College baseball history, has been promoted from the Triple-A Louisville Bats to the Cincinnati Reds, the organization announced on Thursday afternoon.

Reed will make his major league debut on Saturday, June 18 at 3:10 p.m. in Houston. He’ll start on the mound opposite reigning AL Cy Young award winner Dallas Keuchel of the Astros. The game will be aired live on Root Sports Southwest, FoxSports Ohio and FoxSports Southeast alternate.

Reed, 23, is the Reds’ No. 3 prospect according to MLB.com. The left-hander from Northwest by way of Horn Lake High School was the 46th overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals. He was traded to the Reds on July 30 as part of a three-player deal for Johnny Cueto.

In 11 starts this season in Louisville, Reed was 6-3 with a 3.20 ERA with a team-leading 63 strikeouts against 17 walks in 64 2/3 innings of work.

The scouting report on Reed via Baseball America shows he had one of the best 1-2 pitch combos in the minors before his promotion and can spot his mid-90s fastball to both sides of the plate. While there are 15 right-handed starters among league qualifiers who are averaging 94 mph or better with the four-seamer, there are no lefty starters among qualifiers who sit 94 mph or better.

Reed becomes the second major leaguer in program history, joining fellow Horn Lake native Bill Selby, who’s spent the past 11 seasons on the Rangers’ staff as an assistant coach.

Prior to joining Northwest in 2006, Selby put the wraps on his 14-year professional baseball career that spanned from 1992-2005 and included stops with the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the 13th Round (366th overall) of the 1992 MLB Draft as an infielder, spending five seasons with the organization.

Selby played in 198 career MLB games with a .223 career batting average and six home runs. The most dramatic of those home runs came on July 14, 2002, when he hit a walk-off grand slam against 13-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion Mariano Rivera to defeat the New York Yankees, 10-7, in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was the first walk-off home run that Rivera had allowed in his career.

Northwest has had 18 all-time MLB draft picks, including six in the last four seasons under head coach Mark Carson. Learn more about the program at www.nwccrangers.com.

Courtesy of Northwest Sports Information

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