The Reds have traded outfielder Marlon Byrd to the San Francisco Giants for minor league pitcher Stephen Johnson.
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Byrd has 19 homers for the Reds this season and is hitting.
They’ve recently relied on 28-year-old center fielder Juan Perez, who made his first appearance with the Giants this season on August 13.
The trade of Byrd just a day after Billy Hamilton hit the 15-day DL has opened up the OF roster floodgates for Cincinnati in this lost season, and John Fay chimed in with the latest news. “He’s tough on lefties, and he can still cover good ground”. He mostly played left field with the Reds, where his defense appears to be neutral.
“This was another chance to give one of our veteran players an opportunity to go to a contending club and get to the postseason”, Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said.
Heading into their four-game series versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Francisco Giants knew they would be needing an offensive presence that could roam the outfield in order to compete moving forward. “I’ve spoken to him on the phone, and he’s excited about coming here”.
Bochy was thrilled to add Byrd to a Giants lineup that definitely needed to be bolstered after the loss of Pence. Considering his advanced age, Byrd has been pretty impressive overall, earning a 0.8 WAR so far this year and a -6.6 UZR/150 and should be a safe pick up as a short term replacement. 257 with 17 doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 18 RBI in 91 games for the Louisville Bats, the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in the global League.
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In 58 innings for Double-A Richmond this year, Johnson has 68 strikeouts in 58 innings and a 3.41 ERA.
