Cincinnati Reds 60-man player pool list has plenty of options

Who should the Reds select for their 60-man player pool?

Baseball is back! The players agreed to the league’s heath and safety protocols and the 2020 season is set to begin on either July 23rd or 24th. According to The Athletic’s Jason Stark, all teams are required to assemble a 60-man player pool by Sunday afternoon. These players will be part of each team’s second-round of spring training. Who should the Cincinnati Reds choose?

Stark pointed out that not every player on the team’s 40-man roster must be included in the 60-man player pool, but all members of a team’s 40-man roster will be paid for the 2020 season. Seems logical then to add every member of the Reds 40-man roster to the list of 60 players set to be part of spring training 2.0, right?

So, we can rest assured that all the players we assumed were going to make it out of spring training back in March will be part of the 60-man player pool. That would include the likes of Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Joey Votto, Jesse Winker, Tucker Barnhart, Amir Garrett, Michael Lorenzen, Aristides Aquino and Raisel Iglesias.

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Newcomers Nick Castellanos, Mike Moustakas, Shogo Akiyama, Wade Miley and Pedro Strop will also be invited to join the 60-man squad. A few weeks ago, we learned that the Reds home run leader from 2019, Eugenio Suárez, was 100% healthy, so expect to see Geno among the 60 players invited. Nick Senzel, also coming off shoulder surgery, should be there as well.

A few names fans may not know so well were recently added to the 40-man roster last winter. Tony Santillan, Tejay Antone, Ryan Hendrix and Tyler Stephenson will undoubtably be among the 60 players selected. Don’t forget about Rule 5 draftee Mark Payton either.

The Reds picked up a few new faces via trade over the offseason as well. Travis Jankowski, Justin Shafer and José De León should be part of the 60-man player pool as well. Left-hander Josh Smith was added to the 40-man roster after being claimed off waivers in October. Scott Schebler, Alex Blandino, Lucas Sims, Cody Reed and Matt Bowman will likely be invited as well.

Right-handers Trevor Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani will have just 60 games to impress the other 29 teams, as both pitchers enter free agency after the season. Freddy Galvis is slated to become a free agent this coming winter as well.

The remaining players from the Reds 40-man roster who are likely to be part of the 60-man player pool are Curt Casali, Kyle Farmer, Phillip Ervin, Josh VanMeter, Joel Kuhnel, Tyler Mahle and Robert Stephenson. But who else makes the cut?

Looking at the non-roster invitees, you’d have to assume that Derek Dietrich, David Carpenter, Jesse Biddle, Christian Colon, Tyler Thornburg, Blake Trahan and Nate Jones are among the 60 players invited. But that still only brings the total to 47.

Would the Reds add last year’s first-round pick Nick Lodolo to the 60-man player pool? It’s possible. He could be a force out of the bullpen. Jose Garcia is a name to keep an eye on as well. Garcia put on a show during the first-round of spring training and looks like a good bet to be the Reds shortstop of the future.

Jonathan India could see his name on the list as well. A former first-round pick, India has yet to really impress scouts during his time in the minor leagues. Shortstop prospect Alfredo Rodriguez, who had a solid spring, could get a shot as well. Matt Davidson and Boog Powell have major league experience and may find their way onto the 60-man group as well.

When the 2020 season begins, team’s will have a 30-man roster. That roster will eventually be reduced to 28 after two weeks and then finally 26 after four weeks. Teams will also have a taxi squad to help alleviate any injuries that may occur.