Chris Reed's losing battle with the strike zone

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers pitcher Chris Reed was designated for assignment on Friday, completing a long fall for the 2011 first-round draft pick.

Friday's transaction — the other half of claiming Preston Guilmet from the Rays — doesn't necessarily mean the end as a Dodger for Reed, who was just removed from the 40-man roster. It's possible the 25-year-old left-hander could clear waivers and then be outrighted back to the minors.

Reed was 2-2 with a 5.97 ERA in 24 relief appearances across Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, with 22 walks and 21 strikeouts in 34⅔ innings.

Reed started 73 games in his first four years as a professional, and was added to the 40-man roster last November. Coming into the season, Baseball America ranked Reed as the ninth-best Dodgers prospect (our David Hood had him ranked fifth), but in the midseason list Matt Eddy at Baseball America described Reed's fall:

Back in the bullpen this season, 2011 first-round lefthander Chris Reed’s fastball velocity has backed up to the 89-91 mph range, and as a result he’s not missing as many bats as he had in the past.

Reed this season has more walks than strikeouts, and his strikeout rate is just 13.8 percent, down from 19.4 percent in 2014 and 19.7 percent in his career heading into 2015. He began the season in Double-A Tulsa, moved up to Triple-A Oklahoma City in May, but was demoted back to Double-A at the end of the month.

Since he return to the Drillers, Reed struck out just three of 63 batters faced. In fact, dating back to May 4 Reed struck out only six of his last 98 batters, with 17 walks during that span.

That is not a recipe for success, which helps explain Friday's move.