Cincinnati Reds: Projecting Triple-A Louisville Bats’ starting lineup

What will the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, Louisville Bats, starting lineup look like?

A few of the players who descended on Goodyear, Arizona back in February have already been reassigned to minor league camp. The Cincinnati Reds‘ front office and coaching staff will soon be making decisions on who will be on the team’s 26-man roster to start the 2021 season. Several of the players who are left off the Opening Day roster will find their way onto the Louisville Bats.

The Louisville Bats have been the Reds Triple-A affiliate for nearly the last two decades. A short drive down I-71, Louisville, a city rich in baseball history, has been a key part of the Cincinnati organization and helped produce such stars as Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Aroldis Chapman, Eugenio Suárez, and Nick Senzel.

While this year’s minor league season will look a little different, we’re still likely to see several future major leaguers don a Louisville Bats jersey and find their way onto the turf at Slugger Field. The Bats’ Opening Day was pushed back to May 4th.

Louisville was initially scheduled to begin play in April, but MLB cited the the likelihood of minor league players becoming eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination before the start of the season as a primary reason for the delay to the 2021 season.

The delay will change the way the Bats’ Opening Day lineup may shake out, but we’ll do our best to predict who’s likely to begin the 2021 season at Triple-A Louisville. Several of the players mentioned may have shot to make their big league debut for the Reds this coming season as well.

Louisville Bats starting infield (4)

Nicky Delmonico (1B), Max Schrock (2B), José García (SS), Alex Blandino (3B)

As was said earlier, a few of these players have the potential to be on the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster. Both Alex Blandino and Max Schrock have played well this spring and could break camp with the big league club. Honestly, a lot depends on whether or not Joey Votto is healthy or still on the injured list.

Votto tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed on the IL earlier this spring. The Reds also recently shuffled their infield and Eugenio Suárez is now the team’s starting shortstop. Before David Bell made the switch, Kyle Farmer was the leading candidate to land the job.

This change has seen Mike Moustakas return to the familiar third base, a position he’s manned for years while playing for the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers. Jonathan India now looks to be on track to be Cincinnati’s starting second baseman when the Reds battle the Cardinals on April 1st.

This takes India out of the mix to be the Louisville Bats’ starting second baseman and likely hands the job to Schrock, who’s played very well this spring and could yo-yo between the big leagues and Triple-A all season.

Blandino was the mix to be the Reds’ starting shortstop, but he profiles much better as a utility player. The former first-round pick can play all four spots on the infield dirt and, like Schrock, will likely see time in the bigs this season.

Rounding out the Louisville Bats’ infield are José García and Nicky Delmonico. García, the Reds’ top infield prospect, got his feet wet last season, but still needs some more seasoning in the minors. Delmonico was a non-roster invitee who has experience at first and third base as well as the outfield. He or Cheslor Cuthbert could open the season at first base for Triple-A Louisville.

Louisville Bats starting outfield (3)

Aristides Aquino (LF), TJ Friedl (CF), Mark Payton (RF)

Projecting this year’s starting outfield for the Louisville Bats will be quite the task. The Cincinnati Reds have a bevy of talented outfielders on their 40-man roster, and there’s a non-roster invitee who could crash the party and earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. Some of these names might surprise you, but all of the players listed have the chance to get the bigs this season as well.

A lot of fans think that Aristides Aquino will be on the Reds 26-man roster come April 1st, and he may well. But, The Punisher hasn’t mimicked his production we saw from August of 2019 and I think Aquino needs more time in the minors to get regular at-bats. Riding the pine and grabbing a pinch hit opportunity every three days is not going to help his development.

TJ Friedl seems to have been with the Cincinnati organization forever. Twice, the Reds left Friedl unprotected from the Rule 5 Draft, and no other team has taken a flyer on him. Friedl is a versatile outfielder who projects as a fourth outfielder in the majors. With the quartet of Nick Senzel, Shogo Akiyama, Nick Castellanos, and Jesse Winker, the Reds outfield is a bit crowded at the moment.

Finally, look for Mark Payton to open the season on the Louisville Bats roster, but he could quickly ascend to the bigs and play a key role for the Reds this season. Payton has had an exceptional spring and could give Cincinnati a left-handed bench bat as the season stretches into the summer.

A few other players who have the chance to start in the Bats’ outfield are Dwight Smith Jr. and Scott Heineman. Smith, the son of former major leaguer Dwight Smith Sr., has a patient approach as the plate, but lacks power. Heineman is the exact opposite; a powerful swinger without much plate discipline. Heineman, who can play first base as well, could open the season in Cincinnati.