Cincinnati Reds draft 22 pitchers in 41 picks

For the Reds, the 2016 draft started Thursday when they chose University of Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel with the No. 2 overall pick and ended Saturday in the 40th round when they picked right-handed pitcher Michael Bienlien, of Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Va., with the 1,188th pick.

“You always think you did well, but hopefully we did well,” said Reds scouting director Chris Buckley. “The first three players selected were position players. Then it got slanted the other way toward pitching. Those were three players we wanted to get. We got them, and we adjusted after that.”

The Reds drafted 21 pitchers in 2015 and 23 in 2014. The first pitcher they drafted this year was Nicolas Hanson, a right-hander from Prior Lake High School in Savage, Minn.

After taking Hanson in the third round, they drafted pitchers in the next four rounds: left-hander Scott Moss, of the University of Florida; right-hander Ryan Hendrix, of Texas A&M; right-hander Tyler Mondile, of Gloucester Catholic High School in New Jersey; and Joseph Cox, a lefty from the University of Tennessee.

“You always draft more pitching because kids will get hurt,” Buckely said, “and some of these kids probably won’t sign. There are just more opportunities for a pitcher. You get in a one-sided game, and you need pitchers.”

Rotation change: Daniel Wright (0-2, 7.20 ERA) will start Monday against the Braves in Atlanta instead of Alfredo Simon (2-6, 9.11), who will move to the bullpen.

Wright has started one game, allowing three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings on May 24 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has since made two relief appearances and has allowed five earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Simon allowed six earned runs in five innings in last start Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Series finale: John Lamb (1-3, 4.74) will start for the Reds in a 1:10 p.m. Sunday against Kendall Graveman (2-6, 5.49).

Lamb has thrown at least seven innings in his last two games. He’s the first Reds pitcher to stay in the game that long in back-to-back starts this season. He allowed two earned runs in those starts, lowering his ERA from a season high of 6.85 on May 27.