The New Britain Bees announced on July 14th that they are adding two new pitchers to their team, Brandon Cunniff and Chris Reed were both former Major League players.
Cunniff played for the Atlanta Braves during two seasons. Between 2016 and 2017, according to Major League Baseball (MLB), he played in fifty four games.
In the fifty-two innings he played, he had fifty-three strikeouts. He had a 4.50 ERA and 4-2 record with Atlanta.
Cunniff has played for both minor league and independent league teams during his nine years in professional baseball.
According to the New Britain Bees, he has a 7-0 record and twenty-five saves in independent league play. In 103 innings, he has had 141 strikeouts and a 1.57 ERA.
Cunniff has a 20-9 record and forty-two saves in his 276 minor league appearances, during which he has 406 strikeouts and a 2.60 ERA.
Cunniff, now twenty-nine, was a twenty-seventh round pick in the 2010 MLB amateur draft, selected by the Florida Marlins organization.
“Brandon will be a solid late inning reliever for us,” said Bees General Manager Brad Smith.
Reed played in two games for the Miami Marlins in 2015, according to MLB. In the four innings he played, he had a 4.50 ERA.
“Chris gives us another versatile lefthanded arm,” said Smith.
According to the Bees, Reed was a first round selection in the 2011 MLB amateur draft. He was selected sixteenth, overall, by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
Reed started eighty-four games in 145 minor league appearances. In 517 innings pitched, be had 429 strikeouts and a 4.13 ERA.
“These are two valuable arms we are adding to our pitching staff as we begin the second half of the season,” said Smith.
As of July 15, 2018, according to the Atlantic League, the New Britain Bees have a 36-33 overall record. They were second place in the Liberty Division in the first half of the season, and are third in the second half.
