This Reds reliever becoming a key 'pen piece

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- Despite the Reds’ recent slide, there have been some nice performances from the bullpen. Over the last 13 games, entering Wednesday, Cincinnati's relievers have a 2.04 ERA.

One reliever having success, in particular, is left-hander Alex Young.

Through his nine appearances, Young has a 0.90 ERA with one earned run, two walks and 14 strikeouts over 10 innings. The biggest key for the 29-year-old Young is his effectively deceptive pitches, led by his changeup. He also uses a breaking ball and sinker.

“For me, my changeup has always been my go-to pitch,” Young said. “I just got into the right spot of how I want to release it, hand placement and all that stuff. I just felt more comfortable and confident with it. With the slider, I just started throwing it, really, starting around the end of 2021. Really last year was my first year throwing it. My sinker, I tweaked the grip a little bit and I’m getting more consistent movement with it. That’s kind of been huge in my having the results that I am.”

Young, who was signed to a Minor League contract in January and made the club out of camp as a non-roster invite, is ranked by Statcast in the 99th percentile in whiff percentage and chase rate. His changeup has a 61 percent whiff percentage, up from 33 percent in ’22.

“I think the reason why my changeup is so effective is it’s not a typical changeup,” Young said. “It’s more like a split. Hearing feedback from hitters, they feel like they’re on it and it just kind of dives.”

Another bonus for the Reds and manager David Bell has been Young’s ability to provide some length. Five of his outings have been more than one inning, including a season-high of two innings on April 13 vs. the Phillies. And although most of his strikeouts have been against lefty hitters, Young is also performing well against right-handed hitters.

“I’ll go out there for however long [Bell] needs me to,” Young said. “I’m comfortable facing either.”