Cincinnati Reds plan on keeping Hernan Iribarren in Louisville in case of a serious injury later on

Hernan Iribarren has shown the Cincinnati Reds enough that they plan on keeping him around.

The Cincinnati Reds were glad when Hernan Iribarren made it through waivers when they outrighted him to Triple-A at the end of last season.  At 33 years old he is no longer a prospect, but an experienced teammate.  What the Reds see is someone who can run and play defense at the major league minimum.

Last year he dominated at Triple-A, primarily as an infielder.  He batted .327 with an OBP of 380.  He only hit three home runs, but that wasn’t his role.

When Iribarren played briefly for the Reds late in the season, he impressed offensively and defensively.  He batted .311 with three triples among his 14 hits.  Iribarren also played first, second, center field, and right field.

He did better than just play those four positions.  He played a solid big league infield at first and second.  On top of that, after starting primarily second at Louisville, he played an above average center field in limited time in Cincinnati.

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Early in his career Iribarren projected as a third baseman.  Since then he has transtioned over to second base with a knack for baserunning.  This amount of flexibility is invaluable on a team that has players coming from Double-A on their way to the majors.  Already this season Iribarren has played all four infield positions in Louisville.

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The Cincinnati Reds knew that Hernan Iribarren would be relegated to Louisville to start 2017 the second he cleared waivers.

The Reds had no incentive to have Iribarren on the big league roster to start the season once Arismendy Alcantara won the back-up infielder role.  In order to do that they would have to waive someone from the forty man roster.  Since Iribarren is no longer a prospect, that would make no sense.

They also don’t have much of a role for Iribarren in Cincinnati.  If they want a left-handed pinch hitter, then Jesse Winker would make more sense.  If they want a back-up infielder, Alcantara makes more sense from an offensive perspective and Blake Trahan makes more sense from a defensive one.

Iribarren shows the prospects what it means to be a professional baseball player.  In his short time playing with Iribarrren, Dilson Herrera saw his strikeouts go down and his walks go up.  His OBP went up 50 points from him time with Las Vegas to his time with Louisville.

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Hopefully Iribarren likes Louisville, Kentucky, with the Derby coming up this weekend.  He will be spending the summer of 2017 there, likely playing in the outfield and at short  to make room for Herrera and Nick Senzel.  Maybe next off-season the Reds will let Iribarren move on to another organization.