The Reds brought back reliever Ian Gibaut on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Wasserman client will be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.
Gibaut, 31, has been with Cincinnati for the past two-plus seasons. The Reds claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers halfway through the 2022 campaign. The righty turned in a 4.67 earned run average across 33 appearances for the rest of the season. Cincinnati kept him on the roster and were rewarded with a career-best showing in ’23. Gibaut worked to a 3.33 ERA over a personal-high 75 2/3 frames that year.
His follow-up was ruined by injury. Gibaut battled a nerve issue in his forearm and required surgery in May. The Reds activated him from the 60-day injured list in the final week of the season. Gibaut pitched twice, tossing two innings of one-run ball with a strikeout. Cincinnati decided not to carry him on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason after an injury-wrecked year. They non-tendered him in lieu of an $800K arbitration projection.
Gibaut will get an opportunity to reestablish himself in camp. His velocity was down slightly in his limited MLB work last year. He averaged 93.6 MPH on his fastball after sitting above 95 during the prior season. That’s not surprising coming off an extended layoff related to forearm trouble. If the offseason allows Gibaut to regain some of that life, he could vie for a spot in the middle innings.
The Reds have six relievers who are essentially locks for Opening Day jobs if healthy. Alexis Díaz, Brent Suter, Sam Moll, Tony Santillan, Emilio Pagán and trade pickup Taylor Rogers will all be in Terry Francona’s bullpen. Nick Martinez could be in the rotation or back in a multi-inning relief capacity. Gibaut joins Bryan Shaw and Alex Young as non-roster invitees who have MLB experience. None of those players can be optioned, so if the Reds select any of them onto their 40-man roster, they’d need to stick in the majors or be designated for assignment.
