3 Reds players who should be cut before Opening Day, but won't be

2. Reds RHP Hunter Strickland should be cut before Opening Day, but won't be.

Tell me I'm wrong. I keep waiting for someone to convince me otherwise, but it hasn't happened yet. Perhaps the fact that Hunter Strickland is a non-roster invitee and not part of the 40-man roster will be just enough to push him off the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster. But I don't think that's the case.

The Reds are going to place Tejay Antone and Justin Dunn on the 60-day IL before the season which will open up two spots on the 40-man roster. Look for Strickland to break camp with the Reds even though everybody reading this knows that there are better players on the current roster.

David Bell has affinity for veterans, and has spoken highly of Strickland in the past. While his spring training numbers are not good, it won't matter once final cuts are made. Strickland has pitched in six games this spring and has five strikeouts while allowing six runs on nine hits, including three home runs.

The one saving grace is that Strickland will not be relied upon to be the team's closer. That job belongs to Alexis Diaz. Of course, handing Strickland the ball with the lead in the seventh inning isn't going to be much better.

The entire Cincinnati Reds fanbase has about as much faith in Hunter Strickland than they do in their now-broken March Madness bracket. Strickland has no business being on the Reds Opening Day roster, but somehow, he'll find a way.