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Edwin Arroyo should break camp with the Reds

The talk of Cincinnati Reds camp has been Edwin Arroyo. Much like Christian Encarnacion-Strand last spring, there's sure to be some chatter about Cincinnati's top infield prospect making a play for the Reds Opening Day roster.

There are a myriad of reasons that this should, and likely won't, happen, the first of which being the already overwhelming amount of talent in the Reds infield. Encarnacion-Strand, Noelvi Marte, Elly De La Cruz, Jonathan India, Matt McLain, and Jeimer Candelario will already be battling for playing time.

Arroyo has barely set foot on the field at Double-A, and still needs some more seasoning in the minors before making the jump to the big leagues. But in his brief action during Cactus League play this spring, the young shortstop has shown himself to be elite with the glove.

If Arroyo's bat can catch up, a late season call-up wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities. That said, unless there's a catastrophic number of injuries that befalls this year's team, there's really no need for the Reds to even think about adding Arroyo to the roster.

In fact, the Reds don't need to add the slick-fielding shortstop to 40-man roster until after the 2025 season in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. The odds are good that Arroyo will make his big league debut before then, but the idea of the 20-year-old breaking camp with the Reds should be put to bed.