Cincinnati Reds Promote Intriguing Prospect Ahead of Weekend Series Against Diamondbacks

The Cincinnati Reds officially promoted right-handed relief pitcher Zach Maxwell. The team amde the announcement on Friday morning.

Maxwell is the Reds' 24th-ranked prospect and has a 4.17 ERA in 51 games for Triple-A Louisville this season.

Maxwell has 0.96 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings in August. The Reds put Ian Gibaut on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.

Much like Luis Mey, who the Reds sent down after Wednesday's loss to the Angels, Maxwell has electric stuff. It is just a matter of if he can throw strikes consistently.

"For the longest time, three things have been true of Maxwell: He’s enormous, he throws very hard and he can’t throw strikes," MLB Pipeline wrote before the 2025 season. "It was true during his three years at Georgia Tech where he struck out 14.7 per nine and walked a batter per inning. And it’s been true since the Reds took him in the sixth round of the 2022 Draft. He’s missed bats at every stop, with a 14.0 K/9 rate while reaching Triple-A in 2024, and while the walk rate is a little better than his Yellow Jackets days, he still carries a career 6.2 BB/9 rate into the 2025 season."

The Reds are 67-61 on the season. They a half game behind the New York Mets for the third and final National League Wild Card spot. It's reasonable to think Maxwell could make his MLB debut this weekend when the Reds play the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

Welcome to The Show, Zach‼️ pic.twitter.com/L1lBvk3Uh2
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 22, 2025

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