Jason Linden and I take a stab at predicting the Cincinnati Reds’ Opening Day roster. Plus, Pedro Strop’s signing, the loss of a couple of players, and Viewer Mail. Enjoy!
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The only questions for opening day starters, I believe, is the OF. For, I believe the entire IF is set, unless we get that SS.
For the pitcher, I believe we could see a tossup between Castillo and Gray. It may come down to who has a better ST.
With the OF, that may be the same case. For now, I see Shogo in CH, Nick in RF, and Winker/Ervin in LF.
C – Tucker
1B – Votto
2B – Moose
3B – Suarez
SS – Galvis
LF – Winker
CF – Shogo
RF – Castellanos
B – Casali – C
B – Ervin – OF
B – Senzel – OF/IF
B – Farmer – C/1B/2B/3B
B – VanMeter or Blandino
SP1 – Castillo
SP2 – Sonny
SP3 – Bauer
SP4 – Miley
SP5 – Disco
RP – Nate Jones
RP – Sims
RP – Reed
RP – Stephenson
RP – Strop
RP – Garrett
RP – Lorenzen
CL – Iglesias
Last bench spot and a couple of bullpen spots are the only ones I could see up for grabs. Wonder if the reds will give VanMeter any time at Shortstop in spring training. I’d rather have his bat off the bench than I would blandino’s but a backup shortstop is needed.
Common sense says if you can’t throw from 3B you play 2nd ,Moose at third Suarez at 2nd.
1B: Votto – Moustakes – Davidson
2B: Moustakes – Senzel – Farmer
SS: Galvis – Farmer – Senzel
3B: Suarez – Moustakes – Davidson
RF: Castellanos – Akiyama – Payton
CF: Senzel – Akiyama – Payton
LF: Winker – Akiyama – Payton
C: Barnhart – Casali – Farmer
B: Akiyama – Payton – Davidson – Farmer – Casali
STARTERS: Castillo – Gray – Bauer – Miley – DeSclafani
Pen: Iglesias – Lorenzen – Garrett – Strop
Stephenson – Reed – Sims – (Jones or Santillian)
Suarez IL
Desclafani IL
Winker IL
Blandino IL
Reed IL
Akiyama LF
Senzel CF
Castellanos 3rd
Moustakas 2nd
Votto 1st
Aquino RF
Galvis SS
Barnhart C
Gray P
Gray 1
Castillo 2
Bauer 3
Miley 4
DeLeon 5
Jose Garcia inf
Schebler OF
Casali C
Ervin OF
Jankowski OF
Garrett rp
Iglesias rp
Lorenzen rp
Stephenson rp
Strop rp
Biddle rp
N. Jones rp
J. Shafer
There’s still a lot of fat to cut from OF. Out of 10 players in roster, there’re only three fixtures: Shogo, Nick & Senzel. From the other 7 players, I see Schebler been released, Payton returned and Vanmeter & Aquino in AAA. As for Winker, Ervin & Travis is hard to say, only one of them is to make north and all carry no options. Travis is a good CF insurance, but can’t see a clear role for him after Shogo and Senzel. As for Winker & Ervin, one stay and the other should be traded.