Cincinnati Reds Cut 4 More From Spring Roster, Including Cody Reed

The Cincinnati Reds have made additional cuts, re-assigning four players, including a spring standout.

One of spring training’s brightest young stars was among the latest roster cuts out of spring training, as lefty starting pitcher Cody Reed was one of four players moved to minor-league camp. First baseman and outfielder Brandon Allen and right-handed relievers A.J. Morris and Layne Somsen were also re-assigned.

Fresh off his breakout year and an emergence into every list of top-100 prospects in baseball, Reed has been the Reds’ most talked about pitcher this spring by far. Until Monday’s outing in which he allowed four runs in 3.1 innings, the southpaw had allowed only one earned run and five hits in eight spring innings, while striking out seven and walking none.

The soon-to-be 23-year-old showed that he’s capable of making the jump from Double-A to the majors, but the decision to cut him from the spring roster boils down to his arbitration clock. If Reed started the 2016 season as a Red, his service time would start and the club would risk losing him to free agency a year earlier. Now, the Reds can wait two or three weeks to call him up and not face that problem. While it may be frustrating to fans who want to see Reed on the Opening Day roster after his impressive spring, the decision will ultimately pay off in the long run. In the meantime, he can continue his development in Triple-A Louisville until he’s inevitably called up later in the season.

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Tuesday’s cuts also help to clear up the bullpen situation a bit. Before Monday’s outing, Somsen had not allowed a run on the spring, but had been battling the same shaky control that plagued him in Triple-A last year. His erratic command came back to bite him against the Padres last night, as he walked a batter (giving him five in 6.2 innings, not an ideal rate) and hit another en route to allowing four runs. Morris dealt with similar issues. Despite sporting a 2.16 ERA, he walked five in 8.1 innings.

Allen was always a long shot to make the roster and didn’t do enough to separate himself from the many others competing for a bench spot. In 16 games, he hit .259/.355/.333 with two doubles, four walks and nine strikeouts.

With Opening Day less than two weeks away and 40 players still on the Reds’ spring roster, we’re bound to see plenty more cuts in the coming days.