The Reds have signed a lefty Brandon Leibrandt to a minor league deal, according to the business tracker on MLB.com’s Leibrandt player page.
Leibrandt, 31, was a sixth-round pick by the Phillies in the 2014 draft who went through the minor leagues and the club to reach Triple-A for the 2018 season, setting him up for the big leagues in 2019. Unfortunately, those plans were derailed when the southpaw missed the entire campaign with an injury, prompting the Phillies to release him prior to the 2020 season. Leibrandt was picked up by the Marlins in July 2020 and made his major league debut the following month.
Leibrandt would go on to pitch nine innings for the Marlins during a shortened five-game 2020 campaign. His results were solid enough as he allowed just two runs in that span, but his peripherals tell a different story. Leibrandt walked 19.4% of the batters he faced during his time in the big leagues while striking out just 8.3%, leaving him with a 4.86 FIP during his time in the majors. He hasn’t appeared in the big league since.
The southpaw was released from the team’s roster following the 2020 campaign but remained in the organization for the 2021 season, pitching at the Double- and Triple-A levels to a combined 5.68 ERA in 21 appearances, including 18 starts. Leibrandt stayed in baseball through the 2022 season in a minor league deal with the Cubans before moving to the independent Atlantic League to play for the High Point Rockers, with whom he has remained ever since. In 80 innings with the Rockers, Leibrandt impressed with a 2.70 ERA and a 23.8% strikeout rate, while walking just 8% of the batters he faced.
That performance clearly interested the Reds, who are now bringing Leibrandt into the fold as top-level depth. The club is very deep in top-level options on the rotation side of things with the likes of Connor Phillips again Lyon Richardson available for spot starts as needed, or it’s possible that Leibrandt could give the Reds a multi-inning arm out of the left side out of the bullpen if his strong results in the Atlantic League translate into more ball.
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