To this point, the career of Anthony DeSclafani hasn’t gone how many envisioned it.
A promising young pitcher coming through the Blue Jays and Marlins systems, he eventually made his way to the Reds and had a solid rookie year in 2015 (4.05 ERA, 3.97 xFIP). There was hope he’d turn into the team’s most dependable starter after the departures of Mike Leake and Johnny Cueto. The presumed Opening Day starter in 2016, he went down with an oblique strain and didn’t debut until June. Although he pitched in only 20 games that season, he had the best year of his big-league career.