CARLSBAD, Calif. – The Cincinnati Reds spent most of their summer trying to address their bullpen, first through waiver claims and then they acquired three relievers at the trade deadline.
The bullpen, which had disastrous results in the first half of the season, stabilized in the last six weeks of the year. The team, however, couldn’t take advantage of a soft schedule in September and dropped below the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League’s second wild card.
Two key members of the bullpen, Michael Lorenzen and Mychal Givens, departed in free agency. Tejay Antone, arguably the team’s best reliever this year, is out for the 2022 season after he underwent Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career.