Roster comes into focus as Cincinnati Reds trim nine
John Fay,
jfay@enquirer.comPublished 7:22 p.m. ET March 22, 2018 | Updated 7:28 p.m. ET March 22, 2018
TWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The Reds roster really came into focus Thursday with a major cutdown.
Nine were sent out: Left-hander Oliver Perez was released. Right-handers Robert Stephenson and Jackson Stephens were optioned to Triple-A. Right-handers Dylan Floro and Tanner Rainey, catcher Joe Hudson, outfielders Rosell Herrera and Mason Williams and Ben Revere were re-assigned to the minor league camp.
The roster is all but set — as is the rotation — although Reds manager Bryan Price isn’t ready to announce it quite yet.
“We haven’t informed our guys yet,” Price said. “I’d like to do that sooner rather than later to take the heat off them. These are stressful days for everybody, certainly not only the front office and the manager, even more so for the players. I’d like to take the anxiety off the shoulders of these players who we are confident are going to make our team.”
Probably 22 of the 25 spots are spoken for.
“But there’s still one or two spots — maybe one in the bullpen and one on the bench — that there is still an open competition,” Price said.
So here’s what the roster looks like:
—Rotation: Homer Bailey, Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle and Sal Romano. The fifth spot will go to Brandon Finnegan if he’s healthy. Amir Garrett will make the start on April 9, if Finnegan cannot. Garrett will start the year in the bullpen either way.
—Starting eight: Billy Hamilton, Eugenio Suarez, Joey Votto, Scooter Gennett, Adam Duvall, Jose Pereza, Scott Schebler and Tucker Barnhart.
—Bench: Jesse Winker, Devin Mesoraco and Cliff Pennington are in. The other infield spot will go to either Alex Blandino, Brandon Dixon or Phil Gosselin. The fifth outfield spot will go to Phillip Ervin or Sebastian Elizalde.
—Bullpen: David Hernandez, Jared Hughes, Raisel Iglesias, Wandy Peralta and Garrett are in. Cody Reed is likely in as well. The last two spots will come down to Austin Brice, Kevin Quackenbush, Kevin Shackelford and Zack Weiss.
Price said the players definitely in will be told soon, but added things can change.
“The caveat always is that as we’ve done with (Scooter) Gennett, as we’ve done with (Dan) Straily, as we’ve done with Alfredo Simon,” Price said, “there are certain times I hate to tell guys they’ve made the club only to find that day before season that they’ve lost a job to a waiver claim.”
The Reds picked up Kennys Vargas off waivers from Minnesota. But he is in Puerto Rico, where his wife is having a baby. He may not even report before the Reds break camp — and he will not affect the 25-man roster.
The two surprises in the cuts were Perez and Revere, veterans the Reds brought in on minor league deals.
“I think Oliver Perez is going to land on his feet with somebody,” Price said. “He still has plenty of arm left. But we have a lot of — especially with (Michael) Lorenzen out — we have a lot of one- and two-inning pitchers in there, so I get a little concerned about not having enough length arms.”
Price was not sure if Revere would report to Triple-A.
“I didn't get any indication,” Price said. “I think he'll go back and talk with his agent and see what his opportunities are. I think the guy is a career .280-plus hitter who is going to catch everything he gets to in the outfield, he still runs well, he can bunt. He brings a lot to the table and even though, for us, with a four-man outfield that's going to rotate and play a lot, there just wasn't a way for me to comfortably feel like I could get him enough playing time and at-bats to really impact our ballclub.”
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sp...to-focus-cincinnati-reds-trim-nine/451460002/
