Lack of left-handers gives Alex Young tremendous opportunity to join the Reds roster

The Cincinnati Reds have a problem as spring training is set to begin in just a few weeks. The team has very few left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster.

While Nick Lodolo and Brandon Williamson will look to give Cincinnati a 1-2 left-handed punch as part of the Reds rotation in 2023, the same cannot be said of the club's bullpen.

With pitchers and catchers set to descend upon on Goodyear, Arizona in about a month, the Cincinnati Reds have just one left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster; Reiver Sanmartin.

Alex Young tremendous opportunity to join the Reds roster.

The Cincinnati Reds recently signed Alex Young, who played for both the Cleveland Guardians and San Francisco Giants in 2022, to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training.

Young, who is a native of Ohio, will be joined by another non-roster invitee in prospect Andrew Abbott. However, it's most likely that Abbott will return to the minor leagues to begin his 2023 campaign.

Last season, Young went 1-1 with a 2.36 ERA and 21 punch outs over 26.2 innings of work. For his career, the southpaw has a 12-16 win-loss record and 4.58 ERA.

Last season, Reiver Sanmartin was originally part of the Reds rotation, but a poor performance during his first several starts forced the rookie to return to the minor leagues where he transformed himself into a solid reliever.

Sanmartin returned to the major leagues after a stint with the Louisville Bats and made 41 relief appearances in 2022. The lefty went 4-0 with a 2.96 ERA with about twice as many strikeouts as walks. This was a major improvement after Sanmartin's first four games saw him issue more walks (9) than punch outs (8).

Alex Young will be given every opportunity to land a spot on the Cincinnati Reds major league roster. Having an extra lefty coming out of the bullpen would be welcome change for Reds skipper David Bell heading into the 2023 season.