Baseball fans tend to forget just how hard this game is at the highest level. We expect prospects that succeed in the minors to transition to the Major Leagues seamlessly. That doesn’t happen often.
A pitcher’s development is rarely linear. He may have several peaks and valleys in a short period of time or struggle for extended periods before putting it together. We saw it with Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey who both struggled for a few years until they became good MLB pitchers.
It seems like a faint memory that Cody Reed was the king of the Reds minor league system just two years ago.