The Cincinnati Reds were defeated 3-0 by the Boston Red Sox on Thursday in their Opening Day game. While things did not go according to plan to begin the new season, Cincinnati has reportedly made a move to boost the bullpen. According to the minor league transactions page, the Reds signed veteran reliever Andrew Chafin to a deal, via Charlie Goldsmith.
Chafin did not make the Minnesota Twins Opening Day roster after spring training with the ball club. The 35-year-old has pitched well for the most part in recent years, and the fact that he did not make Minnesota’s roster was surprising.
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It seems as if the Reds decided to take a chance on him. The veteran could end up making an impact in the bullpen at some point during the season.
Chafin spent the 2025 campaign with the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels. Overall, he pitched to a 2.41 ERA across 42 outings. 26 of those appearances came with the Nationals, where Chafin turned in a 2.70 ERA. With the Angels, Chafin pitched to a 1.98 ERA in 16 outings.
Chafin has been a reliable left-handed reliever for most of his career. While some relievers shift to the bullpen after struggling as a starter for years, Chafin has only three total starts to his credit in his career. Yet, he has pitched in a total of 643 games.
For his career, Chafin holds a 3.35 ERA. He has always been someone that teams know they can trust out of the bullpen.
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Brock Burke and Sam Moll are the Reds’ current left-handed relief pitchers. The Reds have a number of reliable pitchers in their bullpen overall, with hurlers such as Emilio Pagan, Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft. With that being said, one has to imagine that the ball club could find room for Chafin on the big league roster if they wanted to do so.
It remains to be seen what the immediate plan is for Chafin. Perhaps he will spend some time at the minor league level to prepare to pitch in MLB. There is a chance that he could get an MLB promotion sooner rather than later with Cincinnati.
At the very least, he will offer bullpen depth. If everything works out well, Andrew Chafin could end up pitching at a high level out of the Reds’ bullpen during the 2026 MLB season.