The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly on the verge of calling up one of their most intriguing young bullpen arms. According to Chase Ford of MiLB Central, the team is expected to promote hard-throwing right-handed reliever Zach Maxwell to the big-league roster on Friday, a move that could inject some much-needed electricity into Cincinnati’s relief corps as the postseason race heats up.
Maxwell, ranked as the Reds’ No. 24 prospect, has spent the entire 2025 season with Triple-A Louisville. Across 51 appearances, he has posted a 4.17 ERA, which doesn’t fully capture the dominance he’s shown at times. While his season numbers have been a bit uneven, Maxwell has been on a tear recently. In the month of August, he’s pitched to an impressive 0.96 ERA, striking out 13 batters over 9 1/3 innings and flashing the kind of swing-and-miss stuff that has long made him an exciting prospect.
MLB Pipeline described Maxwell ahead of the 2025 campaign as the kind of pitcher who comes with eye-popping tools but also notable risk. “For the longest time, three things have been true of Maxwell: He’s enormous, he throws very hard and he can’t throw strikes,” the scouting report noted. That assessment traces back to his college days at Georgia Tech, where he struck out hitters at a staggering 14.7 per nine innings but also walked nearly a batter an inning. Those trends have continued since the Reds selected him in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft. At every stop in the minors, Maxwell has missed bats with elite velocity and a sharp breaking ball, carrying a career 14.0 K/9 rate. However, control remains his biggest hurdle, with his career walk rate sitting at 6.2 per nine heading into this year.
The Reds are hoping that Maxwell’s recent improvement and raw talent can translate to the Major League level, especially as they battle for a playoff spot. Much like Luis Mey—another hard-throwing reliever option the team recently sent down after Wednesday’s loss to the Angels—Maxwell has the kind of electric arsenal that can dominate hitters if he can consistently find the strike zone. When he does make his debut, it will mark his first taste of the majors, a milestone Reds fans have been eager to see.
Cincinnati enters play with a 67–61 record, sitting just one game behind the New York Mets for the third and final National League Wild Card berth. As the playoff race tightens, adding a high-upside arm like Maxwell could provide a major boost to a bullpen that may prove pivotal in the Reds’ push for October.
