How bad is bad?

The 2016 Cincinnati Reds were expected to be bad.  For the most part, they have lived up to that preseason billing.  What is amazing is just how bad the pitching has been.  Injuries to key young developing hurlers have made what was expected to be a bad year, almost unbearable at times.  No lead is safe - ever.

But it made me wonder just how bad have things been in the past.  Who are some of the worst Reds pitchers over the past 50 years?  I limited the criteria from 1966 to current and having pitched at least 50 innings for the Reds.  Here is what I found.

#20.  Scott Winchester.  He pitched ineffectively for the Reds in 1997 and 1998, and made an equally ineffective return from 2000 and 2001.  In those 4 seasons, pitched 116.1 innings, was 3-8 with a 5.42 ERA.  He pitched no where else in his career.  I can't imagine why.

#19.  Jason Bere.  He finished 2nd in the A.L. Rookie of the Year voting in 1993, made the All Star Team and lead the American League in winning pct (.857) with a 12-2 record in the strike shortened year of 1994 for the Chicago White Sox.  4 years later, he pitched for the Reds and over two seasons was miserable with a 5.48 ERA over 87 innings.

#18.  Jack Fisher.  "Fat Jack" lead the National League in losses in 1965 and 1967 with the Mets.  He lead the league in Earned Runs in both of those seasons and 1964.  But the Reds figured they could turn him around.  Not so much.  Fisher pitched 113 innings for Cincinnati in 1969 with a 5.50 ERA.

#17.  Jose Acevedo.  The Pride of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, gave the Reds 4 seasons from 2001-2004 and suffered on the mound for 304.1 innings.  He amassed 16 wins with 21 losses over that time and a 5.59 ERA.  He moved to Colorado in hopes of improving his pitching fortunes (2-4, 6.47 ERA) in 2005 before giving it up.

#16.  Todd Van Poppel.  Todd was drafted straight out of high school in the 1990 amateur draft.  Originally, the Atlanta Braves considered taking the "can't miss" prospect as the Number 1 overall selection.  However, when Van Poppel told the Braves he would not sign with them, they chose a young shortstop named Larry Wayne Jones as #1.  He would go on to have a nice career, and most people would refer to him as Chipper.  Van Poppel in the meantime, signed with Oakland and was pretty much the definition of a "bust".  The Reds were fortunate enough to take a chance on him for his two final seasons in the major leagues where he pitched 151 innings over 2003 and 2004 with a 5.72 ERA.

#15.  Mike Lincoln.  Much Like Van Poppel, the Reds got the benefit of another guy who couldn't make it anywhere else.  He pitched for three seasons from 2008 to 2010, threw 113 innings, with a 5.73 ERA in a Cincinnati uniform.

#14.  Rich Gale.  I remember actually being excited about this guy coming to the Reds.  I knew he as a big guy, 6'7" from reading his baseball card, and since he had pitched for the Royals in their pennant year of 1980, I assumed he had to be pretty good.  I was wrong.  Gale pitched 89.2 innings with a 5.82 ERA in that miserable season of 1983.

#13.  Eric Milton.  Who could forget this guy.  He started 66 games for the Reds between 2005 and 2007.  He pitched 370.1 innings.  He had ZERO complete games.  Yes, that's ZERO with an 0!  He did capture the National League Home Run crown in 2005 with 40 (tying teammate Adam Dunn and 5 more than Ken Griffey, Jr.).  But when you are a starting pitcher, that's not a good thing.  Milton's collective ERA as a Red was 5.83.

#12.  Pat Pacillo.  I have to admit, this guy doesn't register with me at all.  I was getting married and attending college in 1987, so baseball wasn't high on my radar for a couple of years.  But you would think with a 5.90 ERA over 50.1 innings over two seasons (87-88), he would have made an impression on me.  I got nothing.  He made a similar impression on all other teams in the major leagues, as he was never heard from again after leaving the Reds.

#11.  Joey Hamilton.  Here's a guy who pitched 10 years in the majors and did o.k. (74-73 with a 4.44 career ERA).  But in his final 3 seasons in the big leagues from 2001-2003, he treated the Reds to a 5.90 ERA over 152.2 innings of work.

#10.  Brian Reith.  A Red for his entire career (2001-2004).  He gave the Reds an average of 1 win in every year he was signed with them.  He also ran up a 5.92 ERA in 127.2 innings.

#9.  Mike Stanton.  Now we're talking.  Stanton picked up a lot of hardware over his career with the Braves and Yankees during the 1990s and early 2000s.  He also was on a Division Winning 1995 Red Sox team.  Unfortunately, by the time the 40 year old Stanton showed up in Cincinnati in 2007, most of that magic was long gone, but not for a lack of trying.  He pitched in 69 games, 57.2 innings pitched, and a whopping 5.93 ERA.  That was enough to send him into retirement.

#8.  Elizardo Ramirez.  Coming over in the Corey Lidle (who missed this list himself by only 0.10 of a run in ERA) trade in 2004, Ramirez wowed the Reds with a 4-14 record in 31 games, 26 starts, over 142.2 innings.  During that time he had a 6.12 ERA.  Cinergy Field was kind of like a pinball machine when he came in to pitch.

#7.  Scott Terry.  If at first you don't succeed, go to St. Louis.  Terry was bounced hard in his rookie season with the Reds in 1986.  As Pete Rose was distancing himself from Ty Cobb in the record book, Terry was distancing himself from everyone else in the clubhouse as he struggled to a 6.14 ERA over 55.2 innings pitched.  He was sent to the Cardinals as part of the Pat Perry deal, where over the next 5 seasons, he managed a respectable 3.43 ERA with the redbirds.

#6.  David Holmberg.  Here is a name we all know and love.  Well, we all know it anyway.  This is what the Reds got for Ryan Hanigan in the 3 way deal with the Rays and Dbacks.  This is a clunker.  Between 2014 and 2015, Holmberg threw 58.1 innings (it seems like a lot more doesn't it??), and recorded a 6.17 ERA.  Holmberg was released by the Reds, picked up and cut by the Braves.  That's rock bottom.

#5.  Kevin Jarvis.  You know anyone on this list that is worse than Holmberg has to be bad.  From 1994 to 1997, Jarvis pitched 230.1 innings for the Reds.  Those were some pretty good teams!  Jarvis' 6.21 ERA did nothing to help them.  This guy was amazing, or at least had an amazing agent.  He put together a 12 year career in the major leagues, and recorded a sub 5.00 ERA only 3 times!  The guy had only 1 winning record in those 12 years, when in 2004 he was 1-0 with a 10.80 ERA with Seattle and Colorado.

#4.  Randy Keisler.  Again, this is a guy who made no impression on me whatsoever.  But over 56 innings in 2005, his 6.27 ERA made quite an impression on the Reds opponents.  The guy was signed and released by 12 different organizations and never once traded.  I'm not sure what that says, if no team is willing to give up anyone for you...ever.

#3.  Ryan Dempster.  The Reds traded Juan Encarnacion, Wilton Guerrero, and a nobody, to the Marlins to get this guy.  In a season and half with the Reds (2002-2003), he pitched 204.1 innings with a staggering 6.39 ERA.  He was released by the Reds after paying him $3.25 million for the 2003 season and picked up by the Cubs for $300,000 for 2004.  You know the rest.  After a mixed effort to make him a closer, the Cubbies moved him into the starting rotation where he put up 5 very good seasons before being traded to Texas at the trade deadline in 2012 for Kyle Hendricks and Christian Villanueva.  Hendricks is currently in his 3rd year in the starting rotation for the Cubs, and has a 2.90 ERA.  Chicago came out pretty good on that one.

#2.  Keyvius Sampson.  Oh boy.  What do can you say about Keyvius?  He is the only person in the history of baseball with that first name.  So he has that going for him.  Otherwise, there's not much to say positive.  In parts of two seasons (2015-2016), Sampson has struggled through 59.1 innings and currently rides a 6.67 ERA for the Redlegs.  It's been ugly.  But, he's currently at AAA Louisville where has shown a lot of promise with a 1.88 ERA there.  Hopefully working with Ted Power, he can get his stuff together and find a way back to the big club and get himself off of this terrible list.

#1.  Ray Washburn.  And we have a winner!  Washburn threw a no-hitter against Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Bobby Bonds and the San Francisco Giants, 9 days before I was born on September 18, 1968.  In fact, Washburn was very effective during the entire decade of the 1960s.  Unfortunately, that time (including the no-no) was spent entirely in a Cardinal uniform.  At the end of the '69 season, St. Louis sent Washburn to the Reds for George Culver who went on to have a handful of successful seasons in the early 70s.  Washburn however, lasted only one more year in the majors, as he was roughed up over 66.1 innings to a 6.92 ERA during the Reds pennant winning season of 1970.