The Cincinnati Reds made a roster move on Thursday afternoon, sending hard-throwing reliever Luis Mey—whose fastball consistently exceeds 100 MPH—back to Triple-A Louisville. Ahead of their upcoming series in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team has promoted another flamethrower from Louisville: Zach Maxwell. To make room for Maxwell on the 40-man roster, right-hander Ian Gibaut was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
It’s an intriguing switch, as Mey and Maxwell share several similarities. Both are power pitchers with elite velocity, but there are some key differences between them as well.
Maxwell, a 6th-round pick by the Reds in 2022 out of Georgia Tech, has steadily climbed through the organization. Now 24, he’s spent all of the 2025 season in Triple-A, working out of the bullpen.
His year has been a bit inconsistent, reflected in a 4.17 ERA over 51 appearances. In 49.2 innings, Maxwell has allowed 42 hits—including six home runs—issued 32 walks, and struck out 59 of the 220 batters he’s faced, giving him a 1.49 WHIP.
Like Mey, Maxwell brings upper-tier velocity, having touched 102 MPH this year while averaging 99.1 MPH on his fastball. However, the way they throw is different: Mey’s fastball features heavy sink and horizontal movement, while Maxwell relies on a rising four-seam fastball. That said, both have struggled with control and often miss the strike zone.
Maxwell supplements his fastball with a cutter and a slider, though he’s heavily fastball-dependent—using it about 71% of the time, with the other two pitches each appearing around 14% of the time.
The Reds are clearly trying to shake things up after Mey’s recent struggles, though it feels like Maxwell may bring the same set of concerns—namely, shaky control and inconsistency in limiting hits. While Maxwell has managed to keep his ERA down at times, that’s often come down to fortunate timing rather than dominant performance.
But at this point in the season—August 22nd—making meaningful roster additions through trades is no longer realistic unless you’re acquiring a non-40-man minor leaguer from another team. That limits the Reds to internal options, and Maxwell might be the best candidate to provide a spark. He certainly has the raw talent, and perhaps the element of surprise, with big-league hitters unfamiliar with him, could work in his favor—at least for a little whie.
