The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Blake Dunn from Triple-A Louisville, with infielder/outfielder Nick Martini optioned in a corresponding move. They already had an open 40-man spot after first baseman Mike Ford was designated for assignment last week.
Dunn, 25, was a 15th-round selection of the Reds in 2021 and collected a bonus of $125K. As one would expect with that modest draft selection and bonus, Dunn wasn’t considered one of the club’s top prospects, but he has improved his stock with some strong play lately.
Last year, he got into 124 minor league contests, split between High-A and Double-A. He drew a walk in 11.1% of his 559 plate appearances and also hit 23 home runs. He finished the year with a combined batting line of .312/.425/.522 and a 158 wRC+ while also stealing 54 bases and playing all three outfield positions.
Coming into 2024, Baseball America ranked him the #14 prospect in the organization while FanGraphs had him at #15, though he hasn’t carried over his tremendous offensive showing from 2023. The Reds bumped him to Triple-A and his walk rate is up to 13.3% but his strikeouts are also up to a 30.6% rate, a big jump from last year’s 23.3% clip. He’s slashing .223/.348/.378 on the year overall, production which translates to a 94 wRC+.
Even with the bat seeming to take a bit of a step back, Dunn could still be useful with his speed and defense. He’s swiped another nine bags already this year without being caught. The Reds have a regular outfield rotation consisting of left-handed hitters TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley, Jacob Hurtubise and Will Benson, as well as the right-handed hitting Stuart Fairchild.
Since Dunn is also a righty, perhaps he will take some playing time in the short side of a platoon and shield some of those lefty swingers from tough southpaws, while also doing some pinch running and taking some late-game defensive replacement duties. He’s hitting .250/.298/.558 against lefties so far this year, compared to just .208/.372/.281 without the platoon advantage. Dunn will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
A surprise to be sure but a welcome one. Although I don’t think Dunn is swinging that hot a bat right now.
but he’s a right hand bat option and glad that Jacob Hurtubise is staying on the ML roster..
Am I wrong to say Benson should’ve got sent down over Martini?
They live in hope on Benson, probably because they gave up two second round pick for him.
As we saw from Senzel, they will ride him out for years and DFA him in the end.
Just somehow there are those still worshipping at the alter of this front office.
I agree. They have made some wise decisions and probably more not so wise. Cleveland had already given up on Benson. The drafting/scouting would get higher marks from me. The FA moves and trades not so much. I would give them a break on all the injuries. The position players who are playing and not producing …. not so much as well..
My opinion you’re wrong. Benson is potentially still developing and improving and has defensive value. I think measures higher than Martini currently anyway and is a little more productive. .. Maybe he would benefit from minors stint. But if he hasn’t been sent down yet previously that’s an option spent. Martini already went down once so it isn’t for him, I think.
Don’t understand the “they live in hope on Benson” comment. In his rookie year with the Reds, Benson had an OPS+ of 130. This year has been a bit of a struggle, but he seems to have woken up over the last week or two and has an OPS+ of 108. Yeah, just living on hope.
Benson gave Cleveland an OPS+ of 33 in a small sample size in his first year in the bigs. The two guys he was traded for have both done poorly since changing organizations.
As as for Senzel, the best performance at the plate in five years with the Reds was an OPS+ of 87. He is playing well this year for the Nats.
The Reds easily won the Benson trade at this point in time. That said, it’s time for me to go back to my place at the altar …
Correct ! Great surprise that Hurtubise stays…
Maybe the Reds are trying to re-jump start the running game.
Hopefully, Rece Hinds will get called up next.
Blake Dunn is by far the most underrated prospect in our system. Glad to see he got the call up.
Agreed. Thought he should have been called up when Martini was.
Bet Nick needs a double now.
Why is Nick martini good for like 5-10 games, and then terrible the rest of the time LMAO.
Because the league catches up with him quickly.
Let’s hope he’s better than Adam.
Adam will be difficult to beat…
Your memory is fading old York. Adam Dunn hit for an OPS+ of 130 over 8 years in Cincy.
I’ll take a repeat of that plate performance any day. The fielding was a bit suspect though.
and made $115,000,000 and hit over 460 HR
He is definitely better than Justin.
Reds OF still needs a lot of work, considering that Friedl is the only everyday outfielder in the roster. The other lefties cannot hit lefthanders and Fairchild cannot hit righties, even though a very acceptable bench piece given his defense. The RH bat position is open for grabs.
If they draft Charlie Condon, with the second overall pick this year, then their outfield won’t look too bad starting next year.
Rumor is that’s the guy. But he will probably be at least a couple years away as they traditionally don’t rush prospects.
That is my choice as well. Not because he is necessarily the best choice(I think he probably is), but because the Reds need a power hitting outfielder. The other guy is a second baseman and the Reds seem to be set there with McClain for quite a while barring injuries. All things being close to equal, I would go with the outfielder. I suppose they could make the Oregon guy an outfielder if Condon goes first or draft the guy from Florida. All 3 of those choices look pretty solid at this point in time..