The Reds announced that they have added three players to their 40-man roster ahead of the 5:00 pm CT Rule 5 deadline: outfielder Rece Hinds, right-hander Christian Roa, and outfielder Jacob Hurtubise. Their 40-man is now full.
Hinds, 23, is the Reds’ No. 10 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and most sources agree he’ll be ready to make his big league debut at some point in 2024. In 109 games with Double-A Chattanooga last season, he showed off his power potential, crushing 23 home runs and 58 extra-base hits. He ran well for a slugging outfielder, too, swiping 20 bags and legging out six triples. However, the righty batter also struck out in a third of his plate appearances, so he’ll need to improve his plate discipline if he wants to put his power on display at the major league level.
As for his defense, Hinds made the move from third base to the outfield in 2022, and he seems to have adjusted well. He has spent time in both corners, but his best asset is his powerful arm, so right field seems like the better fit. The Reds have a glut of talented young players all over the diamond, but there is less of a logjam in the outfield, so there should be room for Hinds if he cuts down on the strikeouts and keeps hitting bombs in the minors.
Roa, 24, struggled after his promotion to Triple-A last summer, seeing his strikeout rate fall and his home run rate rise. At the same time, the 2020 second-round pick showed off some phenomenal strikeout stuff in 2023, striking out 33.7% of batters faced in 13 starts at Double-A Chattanooga and 28.6% of batters faced in 15 games (12 starts) at Triple-A Louisville. If he can rein in the walks (16.6% walk rate across Double- and Triple-A), he could make his way to the majors at some point next season. Presumably, he will serve as rotation depth at Triple-A, something the Reds have no shortage of. In addition to Roa, the team has Lyon Richardson, Connor Phillips, Levi Stoudt, and Carson Spiers on the 40-man roster, all of whom made starts for the big league team in 2023 with limited success.
Hurtubise, 25, doesn’t have the prospect pedigree of either Hinds or Roa, but he might have been an appealing target in the Rule 5 Draft following his strong performance in 2023. In 83 games at Double-A, he slashed .306/.453/.492 with a 159 wRC+, and he kept mashing after a mid-August promotion to Triple-A, slashing .390/.537/.460 the rest of the way. While he is surely due for some significant regression, his plate discipline was genuinely impressive, and his speed is the real deal. He is primarily a corner outfielder, but he has experience in center as well, so he profiles as a fourth or fifth outfielder.
Nice. I like all 3.
Assuming the plan is to convert Roa into a reliever? Get SO/9 rate, but that walk rate is ugly
Great arm but needs to learn to pitch. Keep your eye on him
The eye in the sky spies primarily on the pie.
Pretty much the guys they should protect, but I have no idea why Nick Senzel and Jose Barrero for two are still on the roster.
So you know, Senzel is a 28 year-old former 1st round pick with options.Fangraphs still lists him as a FV 60 (prospect). His 2023 split vs LHP was .347/.389/1.008.He can defend 2nd, 3rd, & CF. with some power and speed. Projected to get about $3MM in arbitration for 2024- he has value. Barerro, still 25 years old, is pre arb but has no options left. Rated as a 55 FV prospect by Fangraphs, Jose has power, speed , can play ss and cf -but very little plate disipline. He too has value. Both are “change of scenery” trade candidates. I suspect 1 makes the Reds 2024 team and 1 gets traded. Neither would clear waivers if Reds would dfa them.
No one is trading for someone that they know they will get for free eventually.
Everyone talks about Senzel’s record against lefties, but that is a narrow slice as lefties don’t face them most of the time. Senzel hit .236 overall in 2023 and .239 career which was not that great.
If those guys are on the 2024 roster, then it means Po Boy didn’t do a damn thing to improve the club, which is entirely possible given his history.
Per This One:
“No one is trading for someone that they know that they will get for free eventually”.
Per Reality:
Marginal players are traded all of the time in MLB. If a team thinks it will not successfully land a player in free agency they will trade for that player so as to not compete with the remaining 28 other teams.
If a team is not likely to land a player due to the waivers process, they also will trade for the player they want.
The AA leagues used a special pre-tack substance baseball. While AAA was a standard ball without pre-tack. Most pitchers lost 3+ inches of movement on their sliders/sweepers/curves when promoted (AAshby being the best 2023 example)…
“Too” should never have a comma before it.