Bill Bray

Bray took longer to recover from his Tommy John surgery than the average pitcher, but once he got there he showed his pre-injury form after a few rough patches. With Arthur Rhodes signing with the Rangers, Bray is now the Reds' top lefty specialist.

Bray underwent Tommy John surgery in May and missed the rest of the season. And that's really the story of his career - every time he starts to make some inroads with his organization, be it the Reds or the Nats, he comes down with an arm injury. Traditional recovery time for pitchers is 10-12 months, meaning that Bray will probably pitch in 2010, but there's usually a lag between pitching and pitching effectively.

The departure of Jeremy Affeldt makes Bray the Reds' top lefty reliever, a role that he was close to earning on his own merit anyhow. In fact, the team needs to make sure not to shoehorn him into a mere lefty specialist role - lefties and righties struggled alike against him. Francisco Cordero is firmly ensconced as the closer, so there's little chance of Bray taking over that role, but he's a valuable commodity in sim leagues and those just looking for quality innings.

A finger injury suffered in spring training, followed by shoulder tendinitis contracted during a rehab assignment, derailed a good portion of Bray's season. The Reds spent two-thirds of the season trying to replace what they expected to get out of Bray and Gary Majewski, both acquired in the infamous Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez trade. Now that they've signed Francisco Cordero, there's less urgency for Bray to contribute immediately. Don't look for him to pitch in the late innings, and if he gets off to a slow start in 2008, Bray will even be a candidate to get demoted.

Bray was the best part of the package coming over from the Nationals in the infamous Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez trade, and yes, that's damning with faint praise. He was useful as a set-up man and a fill-in as a closer, picking up his first two career major league saves. He won't get too many save opportunities in 2007, with the Reds signing Mike Stanton and re-upping David Weathers, but he's being groomed for that possibility in the future. Fortunately, he hasn't been pigeon-holed as a lefty specialist yet, something he'll need to avoid if he ever hopes to close.

Bray followed in Chad Cordero's shoes as a first round pick for the organization, but the similarities end there. He has yet to put together a great minor league campaign, but his 49/13 K/BB ratio in 39 2/3 innings over three levels bodes well for the future. He'll probably start 2006 back in the minors, but a good performance in the spring could land him in the Nationals bullpen.

Bray struggled in his first pro season, at both High-A and in the AFL. A rapid ascent to the majors doesn't figure to be in the cards him (as it was for previous first round pick Chad Cordero).

Bray, the William and Mary closer, projects as quality reliever throwing his fastball up to the mid 90s complimented by a sharp, nasty, slider. A jerky motion and questionable mechanics suggest he can’t be converted to a starter and it’s been suggested he’ll need to tighten his 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame.