The Cincinnati Reds were among the last teams to make their first round of cuts in spring training. With a set of games played on Tuesday the organization waited until after the games were over to make their first set of moves for the spring. But following the games, Cincinnati sent 11 players back to minor league camp.
Among the players on the 40-man roster, the Reds optioned right-handed pitchers Tejay Antone, Ryan Hendrix, and Tony Santillan, as well as left-handed pitcher Josh Smith to the minor leagues. The other seven players were all reassigned to minor league camp and were not on the 40-man roster. Those players include right-handed pitcher David Carpenter, left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo, catcher Chris Okey, infielders Jonathan India and Blake Trahan, and outfielders Stuart Fairchild and Boog Powell.
Tejay Antone was having a strong spring. The right-handed starter had allowed just one run in his 6.1 innings (1.42 ERA) to go along with four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. He also began showing a big time jump in his velocity from the past. While a spot in the rotation isn’t there to be had, it’s possible he could have made some sense for the bullpen. He’ll likely head to Triple-A to begin the year in the rotation and provide some insurance as a starter in the event that the big league clubs needs someone to step in.
Here’s how all six of the pitchers who were sent to minor league camp have performed:
| Player | ERA | IP | H | HR | BB | K | AVG | WHIP |
| Nick Lodolo | 18.00 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .400 | 2.00 |
| Tony Santillan | 11.25 | 4.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .450 | 2.50 |
| Tejay Antone | 1.42 | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .174 | 0.95 |
| Ryan Hendrix | 6.00 | 3.0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 6 | .313 | 2.67 |
| Josh Smith | 7.94 | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 6 | .211 | 1.41 |
| David Carpenter | 6.35 | 5.2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 7 | .261 | 1.06 |
Here is how all five of the position players who were sent to minor league camp have performed:
| Player | AB | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Stuart Fairchild | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 2 | .087 | .250 | .261 |
| Jonathan India | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | .227 | .321 | .409 |
| Boog Powell | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .250 | .333 | .625 |
| Chris Okey | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Blake Trahan | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 1 | .095 | .259 | .095 |
Opening Day is on March 26th. That leaves 15 more days until the Reds need to have their roster down to 26 players. After the cuts today there are still 25 pitches, 5 catchers, 11 infielders, and 9 outfielders. That’s 50 players – so basically, half of those remaining in big league camp will still need to be reassigned in the next two weeks and two days.
Here’s the current spring training roster:
When did Lodolo pitch? I thought he wasn’t going to see action this spring
Just saw the post over on redsminorleagues
Strange. Wonder what changed. Maybe he’s impressed enough that they wanted to just see him against big leaguers?
I doubt much changed, really. They may have just decided to get him in a game with the big club in a split squad situation before sending him to the back fields.
Lodolo pitched the 9th inning and gave up a 2 run HR, but actually looked very impressive. He throws the type of breaking ball that you swing and miss at and then it hits your back foot.
I actually had some trouble picking among some of the lower-tier relievers, and I believe Dietrich might make the team over JVM to start the season. I think Aquino goes to AAA and Ervin gets a bench spot.
But obviously Castillo, Gray, Bauer, Disco, Miley, Garrett, Lorenzen, Strop, Iglesias. Bowman? Stephenson? I would’ve said De Leon before the start of camp but he has struggled.
Stephenson is not a ?
Nor is Reed or Sims. Bowman should make it at this point.
I do not see Dietrich, as I would keep Payton the rule 5 pick over him. Davidson has the pop you want and flexibility.
Nick, Jesse, Nick, Shogo, Phil
Tucker, Curt, Farmer
Freddy, Mike, Eugenio, Joey
This gets hard and that is good. I would also keep Scott Schebler over Dietrich if healthy. If Scott is healthy, he is my 26 th
Dietrich has done alright in ST and they have him an invite for a reason. I don’t think Schebler is gonna make the cut.
Since the starters are already known (feels so good to say that given what the last few years have been), here’s my guess on the bench and last bullpen spots:
Outfielder #4 Winker
Outfielder #5 Ervin
IF/OF Farmer
IF/OF VanMeter
Bullpen:
Reed
Bowman
Sims
(Iglesias, Strop, Lorenzen, Garrett, Stephenson)
I agree with you, Justin, with the exception of replacing Van Meter with Blandino. I saw him play in both games over the weekend here in Vegas and was impressed with both his play and his field presence. I think he can handle coming off the bench well, he gives them another fill-in option at short, and that allows Van Meter to get regular playing time in Louisville.
Position Starters & Platoons
1B Votto
2B Moose
SS Galvis
3B Suarez
RF Castellanos
CF Senzel/Akiyama
LF Ervin/Winker
C Casali/Barnhart
IF Bench
Farmer (1B, 2B, SS, 3B, C)
Dietrich (1B, 2B, 3B, RF, LF)
OF Bench
Lorenzen*
Starting Pitchers
Castillo
Gray
Bauer
Disco
Miley
Relief Pitchers
Iglesias
Lorenzen
Garrett
Strop
Stephenson
Sims
Bowman
Reed
C: Barnhart
IF: Votto, Moustakas, Galvis, Suarez
OF: Winker, Senzel, Castellanos
Bench: Casali, Farmer, Ervin, Shogo
SP: Castillo, Gray, Bauer, Disco, Miley
RP: Iglesias, Lorenzen, Strop, Jones, Stephenson, Garrett, Reed
Last Bench spot: Payton, Blandino, Schebler and VanMeter are the options in my book. Blandino and VanMeter have options which work against them even though they are to two most deserving. Payton not showing power he did last year. My pick is Payton.
Last Bullpen spot: Sims, Alaniz, Romano, Bowman, Finnegan, Shafer, Thornburg, Raley, Kuhnel
Sims is out of options so he has to pitch his way off the team. He may be doing that. Shafer is the best choice but he may be injured and has options. Bowman has the experience but Shafer has an option. Baring injury Shafer is my pick at this point. Sims can still take it with a good 2 weeks because he is out of options.
OF Castellanos, Winker, Ervin, Akyama & Payton. INF Votto. Moustakis, Galvis, Suarez, Blandino, Farmer CAT Barnhardt & Casali SP Grey, Castillo, Bauer, Disclfani, Miley RP Lorenzen, Iglesias, Strop, Stephenson, Garrett, Powers, Jones & Biddle
OF: Winker, Shogo, Castellanos, Senzel, Ervin
IF: Geno, Votto, Moose, Galvis, Farmer, Blandino, Casali, Barnhart
SP: You know
RP: Iglesias, Garrett, Sims, Lorenzen, Strop, Stephenson, Reed, Kuhnel
If it were up to me, I’d swap out Farmer for a better bat like JVM or DD, but they looove that 3rd catcher.
If the bench spots all go to guys who are solid hitters, I think Farmer may wind up in Louisville, as neither he nor one of the other catchers would be a better pinch-hitting option. He has always been a light hitter who needs to play premium defense (like catcher) to have strong value, and his flexibility is less needed this year with the expanded bench spot.
Assuming both Suárez, Galvis, and Senzel are healthy to start:
Barnhart, Casali, Farmer, Votto, Moose, Galvis, Suárez, Blandino, Castellanos, Senzel, Akiyama, Winker, Ervin.
Castillo, Gray, Bauer, Disco, Miley
Iglesias, Lorenzen, Garrett, Stephenson, Strop, Sims, Reed, Jones.
Any chance Reds games will be on U Verse?