Jason Marquis DFA'd as Reds start 'youth movement'

Right-hander Rasiel Iglesias has a strained oblique. That's why right-hander Jon Moscot is starting tonight.



The big move came to open the spot for Moscot, who was not on the 40-man roster.

The Reds designated veteran right-hander Jason Marquis for assignment. Right-hander Pedro Villarreal was called up from Triple-A Louisville. Iglesias was placed on the disabled list.

"We are kind of going with our youth movement and see if they're ready here," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "We've seen that with (Anthony) DeSclafani, then (Michael) Lorenzen, then Iglesias and now Moscot. It's the way we've decided to go to give these guys the opportunity to come and be the rotation."

"... You're looking at our future. I don't think we anticipated Iglesias, Lorenzen and Moscot all being in our rotation at the same time to go with DeSclafani. ... I never would have anticipated that in early June we'd have all these guys on our roster and throwing so well," Price added.

"It's exciting."

Marquis, 37, was 3-4 with a 6.46 ERA in nine starts. The Reds took him out of the rotation to put Iglesias in. Marquis hasn't pitched since he was taken out of the rotation.

"It's tough when a guy has had a lot of success at the major league level," Price said, "and has put a lot of work in to get back to the big leagues."

Moscot, 23, was the team's fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft. He was 7-1 with a 3.15 ERA for the Louisville Bats. He went six innings and allowed one run on four hits in his last start.

"We thought Jon would inevitably debut some time this year," Price said. "He's been our best Triple-A starter. He's a kid we've liked. We see him as one of our best pitching prospects. He'd done everything he needs to do at the Triple-A level at this point in time.

"We like him not only for his stuff. We like his makeup, his competitiveness. There's a lot of good things we hear from our player development department as far as his readiness."

Moscot's only has had one bad start this year. He allowed eight runs on 11 hits two starts ago.

Moscot spent most of last year at Double-A Pensacola, where he was 7-10 with a 3.13 ERA.

He will be the fourth rookie starter the Reds have used.

Iglesias suffered the injury in his last start. He had an MRI and treatment. But he felt pain when he last tested it.

"It's one of those things that could definitely get worse," Price said. "If it gets worse, it can be extended time on disabled list, so we decided to go the safe route."