The Reds announced Friday that they’ve signed veteran utilityman Garrett Hampson to a one-year, major league contract. He’ll go directly onto Cincinnati’s big league roster. In a pair of corresponding moves, outfielder Rece Hinds was optioned to Triple-A Louisville, and righty Carson Spiers was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. The Reds also announced the reinstatement of ace Hunter Greene from the injured list, as expected. Righty Lyon Richardson had been optioned to Louisville on yesterday’s off-day to clear a spot on the roster for Greene.
Hampson, 30, opened the season with the D-backs. He’d signed a minor league deal with Arizona over the winter but broke camp with the team after nice spring performance. He received only 41 plate appearances in about six weeks with the Snakes, however, turning in only a .167/.359/.167 batting line. Hampson did draw 10 walks, but he was 5-for-30 with a quintet of singles in his official at-bats and produced poor batted-ball metrics when he made contact. The Diamondbacks designated Hampson for assignment and released him last week.
The Reds are Hampson’s fifth big league team in four years. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the club that originally selected him in the third round of the 2016 draft, the Rockies, but has since bounced to Miami, Kansas City, Arizona and now Cincinnati. Hampson hasn’t been productive with the bat over the course of that journey around the big leagues, hitting just .237/.308/.323 in 750 plate appearances since Opening Day 2022. He’s a plus runner who can handle just about any position on the diamond, however, which surely enhanced his appeal to a banged-up Reds club.
Cincinnati currently has Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Jeimer Candelario, Jake Fraley and Tyler Callihan all on the injured list (the 60-day IL, in Callihan’s case). Those injuries, coupled with the offseason trade of Jonathan India, have thinned out what once appeared to be an extremely deep group of infielders. Presently, the Reds have Spencer Steer at first base, Matt McLain at second, Elly De La Cruz at shortstop and utilityman Santiago Espinal at third base. Gavin Lux can play all over the diamond but has been used much more as an outfielder than an infielder this season. The Reds are also carrying three catchers at the moment, which further creates a need for some versatility in the other players they decide to carry on the bench.
Hampson will provide some needed infield depth while Marte & Co. heal up in the weeks ahead. He’ll also give the Reds a righty-swinging option to plug into an outfield mix that currently includes Lux, Austin Hays, TJ Friedl and Will Benson.
This is a confusing move…Hampson is not good at all and for a team that struggles to hit, why sign a guy to a major league deal that hasn’t posted an above average OPS+ since 2018 when he only had 48 at bats so it doesn’t really even count.
Guessing it’s largely because he’s a cheap stopgap. He was on a major league contract with the Dbacks. So the Reds should only owe him for whatever time he spends on their roster. Arizona’s still on the hook for the remainder if Cincy cuts him.
It’s not confusing when you realize the Reds front office and ownership don’t actually care about winning.
Why ????
Don’t understand this one. Call up Jack Rogers in AAA who’s batting .400 if need be.
Move being made to get Rece Hinds regular ABs in AAA? Hinds has been good in the field, but his BA is in the toilet.
I wish they had sent Hinds back sooner or played him instead of Joe, mad no sense.
Hard to play Hinds every day when he’s hitting a buck fifty and the team has been struggling offensively. Both Benson and Joe have been hitting, so Hinds is lucky he got the playing time that he did.
And now that Hayes is back and starting to round into form, they didn’t need Hinds riding the pine.
19 at bats for Hinds. Who cares about his batting average.
The club cares. Hayes is playing every day in LF, Friedl is playing every day in CF (they’re both hitting well), and Benson has been hot since he came up, which covers RF. You don’t have a good prospect sitting on the bench every day, that’s what 4A
guys are for.
Hinds needs everyday ABs.
The club cares about his batting average after 7 games? You should retire from talking.
Reading is Fun-Da-Mental. I’ll say it SLOWLY for those challenged people from Flori-Duh:
He needs every day ABs. Once Hays came back from the IL, Hinds’ usage dropped dramatically. He’ll play every day in AAA.
BTW, you seem a bit angry. Maybe your retirement doesn’t suit you.
A big bat to face PCA & Co. this weekend
lol yeah at least Greene is on the mound for the opener.
as a dbacks fan I would have carried him there myself
Hampson’s a placeholder, until Strand or Marte return, though at that point, I’d give serious consideration to optioning McLain and moving Steer or Espinal to 2B.
I love McLain! Kid had great first (and only) hundred games. Loses all of last season and sure let’s just keep him in the majors. He should have went to minors to start season.
Ps, I am a fan of this ownership group and the front office. Just so it’s out there that someone is.
They need him like another hole in the head…or in this case a lineup.
If I were Hinds, I’d hope to get DFAed so I could actually get a chance to play in the bigs.
Signing Hampson to an MLB contract, instead of waiting for a player caught up in a numbers game, such as Villar, to sign via an MiLB contract is lunacy. And a front office should know when other teams are going to get caught up in numbers games (IL activations, etc.)…