Former Gulf Breeze, Wahoos star Ben Lively returns to the show, called up by Cincinnati Reds

Bill Vilona

May 9, 2023 at 7:42 PM·3 min read

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Ben Lively (59) throws a pitch in the ninth inning of the MLB Cactus League spring training game between the San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds at Scottsdale Stadium in Goodyear, Ariz., on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023. The Giants came back in the ninth inning to win on a walk-off single off the bat of Will Wilson.

Four years after his last Major League appearance, Gulf Breeze native Ben Lively is back in the big leagues, this time with the team which drafted him a decade ago.

Lively, 31, a Gulf Breeze High and Central Florida graduate, who pitched in Pensacola for the Blue Wahoos in 2014 as a Cincinnati Reds prospect, will soon make his Reds debut.

The Reds called up Lively on Tuesday from their Triple-A affiliate, the Louisville Bats. He’s expected to join the Reds starting rotation and could make his start this weekend in Miami when the Reds visit the Miami Marlins.

It will be a full-circle journey for Lively, who was drafted by the Reds in the fourth round of the 2013 draft out of UCF. But he was later traded and eventually made his MLB debut with the Philadelphia Phillies.

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Lively, who rose from youth baseball in the Gulf Breeze Youth Sports Association, all the way into the major leagues, was traded from the Reds to the Phillies on New Year’s Eve in 2014.

He made his MLB debut on June 3, 2017 with the Phillies. He made 26 appearances in the Major Leagues, including 15 starts for the Phillies in 2017, followed by a split year in 2018 with the Phillies and Kansas City Royals. He made his last MLB appearance with Royals on April 28, 2019.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 03: Ben Lively #49 (C) is doused after the game by Tommy Joseph #19 (L) and Cameron Rupp #29 of the Philadelphia Phillies for his performance against the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park on June 3, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 5-3. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images)

During the 2020 season heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Lively played for the Samsung Lions in the Korean Baseball League. He returned to Korea in 2021, before the Reds signed him as a free agent in January 2022.

Lively started last season strong with the Louisville Bats, before an injury sidelined him until late August. He finished the season with a 2-5 record and 4.09 earned run average in 18 starts.

The Reds invited Lively in February to their major league camp during spring training where he the first week before being reassigned to the minor league camp.

This season, he’s shined with a 4-0 record for Louisville with a 2.33 ERA in five starts. He has 10 walks, 16 strikeouts.

Lively will replace Luis Cessa in the Reds starting rotation. Cessa, a former reliever, had a 9.00 ERA in seven games for the Reds, allowing 26 runs in 26 innings.

The Reds are hoping Lively can assume the role as a No. 4 or No. 5 starter in their rotation.

Gulf Breeze native Ben Lively is photographed before his debut with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He was the first local player to join the Blue Wahoos' roster.

Lively remains the only Pensacola area native to play for the Blue Wahoos. When he did so in 2014, Lively attracted large crowds and enthusiastic support. He made 13 starts with a 3.88 ERA. That year in Decemer, he was named winner of the Reds’ Sheldon “Chief” Bender Award as their minor league player of the year.

They traded LIvely three weeks later to get veteran MLB outfielder Marlon Byrd, who became a Reds starter in 2015, but did not finish the season with team. The Reds moved him before the trade deadline in 2015 in a deal with the San Francisco Giants.

Lively, meanwhile, advanced through the Phillies system to reach the big leagues and make his MLB debut in Philadelphia.

Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: MLB: Former Gulf Breeze, Blue Wahoos’ Ben Lively joins Cincinnati Reds

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