Reds Opening Day roster bubble projections: Last 4 in, First 4 out

With March Madness in full-swing and bubble teams making some noise this time of year, maybe it's time to approach the Cincinnati Reds roster in a similar fashion to what Joey Brackets does with the NCAA Tournament.

Every spring when the college basketball season is nearing its end, Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Jerry Palm of CBS Sports put together what's known as Bracketology - projecting how they foresee the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will seed the 68 teams set to appear in March Madness.

One aspect of Bracketology is always the Last 4 in and the First 4 out. It allows fans to see just how close their favorite college basketball team came to making the field of 68 or just close they came to missing out on the Big Dance.

Reds Opening Day roster bubble projections: Last 4 in, First 4 out

This is part of the process every year. Reds fans have already seen the coaching staff and front office make some questoinable decisions with regard to some of the team's younger talent. Players like Levi Stoudt, Elly De La Cruz, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand were all reassigned to minor league camp despite proving that they were on the cusp of being major league-ready.

Other players have also been eliminated from the process. Recently, the Reds released left-handed reliever Daniel Norris and catcher Austin Romine - both of whom signed minor-league deals with invites to spring training.

After reassigning Alejo Lopez and Stuart Fairchild to minor-league camp earlier this week, only 40 players are left in Goodyear who have a shot to be part of the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster. So which four players will be the heading north with the Reds next week and who will be the last four left off of Cincinnati's Opening Day roster?