With the Reds playing better baseball over the last two months (the weekend series against the Pirates notwithstanding), there’s been more talk of seriously competing in 2019. The team, of course, still has a few missing pieces to the puzzle to find before that can happen, though — primarily finding a rotation of reliable starting pitchers they can roll with in the coming years.
Homer Bailey is not a part of that equation. Neither is Matt Harvey. Even if the Reds go out this offseason and sign a top-of-the rotation arm, figuring out which young pitchers can be relied on for the next three, four, or five years is imperative.