Cincinnati Reds: Three players who should be sent to the alternate site

1. Reds outfielder Travis Jankowski

It’s time. In fact, it’s well past time for Travis Jankowski to be optioned to the alternate site. To be honest, I don’t know how he’s lasted this long on the roster. Jankowski is a spot starter at best, and there are plenty of other options already on the active roster or at Prasco Park that would provide Cincinnati with better results on the field.

I don’t want to pick apart Jankowski’s game, but we know what he is. He’s fast! That’s great if you can afford to utilize a roster spot for a player that fills a niche. However, in this 60-game season, despite the additional roster spots, Jankowski is taking up a spot that could be used for someone who can actually get on base.

In 15 at-bats, Jankowski has one hit (0.67 batting average). What good is having someone with speed on the base paths if they can’t get on the base paths? It’s also not as if Jankowski is lightyears faster than some of the other players on the Reds.

Jankowski’s sprint speed last season, according to Baseball Savant, was 27.4 feet per second. That’s actually the lowest of his career. Nick Senzel’s sprint speed of 29.0 feet per second is in the Top 4% of the league this season. Even Phillip Ervin, while not a burner, has a respectable sprint speed of 27.2 feet per second. Travis Jankowski is replaceable.