According to Jon Heyman, the Cincinnati Reds are bringing back Mike Ford on a Major League deal this go around – NOT an MiLB deal. Mike Ford had been the source of drama on Reds Twitter before the team ultimately ended up on a 6 game slide, losing 9 of 11 games, and on one of the worst stretches offensively in team history. Now…he’s back. Was he the x factor? The juice? The strawberry to the jam?
Mike Ford goes back to the Reds, this time on MLB deal. Reports today.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 8, 2024
Mike Ford as a Cincinnati Reds player…
Mike Ford had his best season as a big leaguer last year as a Seattle Mariners player, in which he slashed .228/.323/.475/.798 with 16 homers and 34 RBI. Ironically, he’s better against LHP in the minimum ABs he had against them in 2023, but the Reds will primarily use him everywhere.
With AAA Louisville, before he opted out of his contract, as he should’ve, Mike Ford was slashing .297/.381/.539/.920 with 6 HRs & 4 doubles. He also walked 12 times and struckout 20 times. He was playing well.
What does this mean for the MLB team?
With Mike Ford resigning with the Reds on an MLB deal, this likely means that either Christian Encarnacion-Strand will be demoted or put on the Injured List or Jeimer Candelario will go on the Injured List. As I posted last night, CES has REALLY been struggling, not quite as bad as Jeimer, but definitely struggling real bad. Wouldn’t shock me to see them go that route, using the 2nd year player’s options. If it’s CES that is being demoted to get Mike Ford a roster spot, it won’t be a long stint. It’ll strictly be to get him his feet again. His BB% is under 3, and K is above 28%…that is not sustainable in the big leagues.
PUPPIES WIN AGAIN!