Christian Encarnacion-Strand's bat is not what's preventing Reds from activating him

Christian Encarnacion-Strand has now spent nearly two weeks on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Louisville. The Cincinnati Reds slugger is hitting .333/422/.692 through 11 games with nine extra-base hits and a 187 wRC+. Why haven't the Reds recalled Encarnacion-Strand to help breathe life into their anemic offense?

Earlier this week, Reds manager Terry Francona told the media that Encarnacion-Strand would remain in Louisville in order to receive some more at-bats and get his timing down. That's fine, but by that logic, Matt McLain should be right along Encarnacion-Strand in the Louisville Bats lineup.

The truth is, based on the Reds' roster construction, there's no place in the Reds' everyday lineup for Encarnacion-Strand. Though Spencer Steer's bat has been better of late, he's still hitting just .222/.288/.329 on the season. Steer's defense, however, has been lights out, and it's hard to see Francona going with Encarnacion-Strand over Steer at first base for that reason.

The Reds need to DFA Austin Wynns and activate Christian Encarnacion-Strand from the IL

Instead, the Reds could deploy Encarnacion-Strand as the team's designated hitter, but Francona has sent out Tyler Stephenson as the Reds' designated hitter several times over the last few weeks and may wish to keep that going. Stephenson has acted as Cincinnati's DH in six of his last 13 games. Cincinnati is still maintaining three backstops despite the fact Austin Wynns hasn't started a game behind the plate since April 30.

The Reds could simply DFA Garrett Hampson or option Connor Joe to the minors in order to open up space on the active roster. Nevertheless, until the Reds finally designate Wynns for assignment, Francona may find it difficult to to free up an everyday spot in the Reds lineup for Encarnacion-Strand while still relying on Stephenson as the team's DH.

With Elly De La Cruz expected to be placed on the bereavement list this week, it wouldn't be surprising to see Cincinnati activate Encarnacion-Strand ahead of the Reds' series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. That said, Cincinnati would only be delaying the inevitable as once De La Cruz returns another roster move would need to be made.

Regardless of how the Reds choose to shuffle the roster in order to reinstate Encarnacion-Strand from the IL, when he returns, Cincinnati must have him in the lineup every day. The Reds are desperate for some some power in the middle of the lineup, and there's no one in the organization (outside of De La Cruz) who has more pop than Encarnacion-Strand.

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