Cincinnati Reds: Five players most likely to snag 26th spot on the roster

2. Travis Jankowski, Outfielder

Travis Jankowski was acquired in a little-known trade with the San Diego Padres earlier this offseason. Initially, the thought was that Jankowski would give the Reds an outfielder capable of taking over duties in center field in the event that Nick Senzel was unable to start the season on the active roster. A few offseason acquisitions changes that thinking a little bit.

Jankowski surely didn’t like the Reds acquisition of Shogo Akiyama, a player who profiles similar and was given a three-year/$21M deal. Jankowski and Akiyama both have the capability to play all over the outfield, but Akiyama’s offensive profile is much stronger than Jankowski’s, who looks to be more of a defense-first outfielder.

The one area where Jankowski could excel is on the base paths. Given the Reds current roster, Cincinnati has very players that would be considered burners. In fact, with José Peraza in Boston and Billy Hamilton now in San Francisco, Senzel may the fastest player on the team. Could the Reds use Jankowski exclusively as a defensive replacement and pinch runner?

That may seem odd, but given the way the roster sets up, having a player occupy that 26th spot who has a specific job may be the route that David Bell takes. Jankowski hit just .182 last season. However, according to FanGraphs, Jankowski has 15 defensive runs saved, something that can’t be ignored given the lack of defense likely to be patrolling the Reds outfield in 2020.