Who will be included in the next round of Reds roster cuts?
The Cincinnati Reds have been thinning the ranks of late. Just this past week, Nick Solak, Noelvi Marte, and Michael Siani were all reassigned to minor-league camp.
The Reds major-league camp roster now stands at 54, but there are more roster cuts on the way. In fact, any second you could see a flurry of names shuttled off to minor-league camp.
This is all part of spring training. Reassigning Solak, Marte, and Siani doesn't mean that those three will not be contributors in 2023, but it's highly unlikely they'll be on the Reds Opening Day roster. So which Reds players will be included in the next round of roster cuts?
Who will be included in the next round of Reds roster cuts?
Let's het get this out of the way first; one name you won't see just yet is Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Many Reds fans believe that Encarnacion-Strand should be part of Cincinnati's Opening Day roster. If Joey Votto is not full-go, there's merit to that argument.
Regardless of whether you believe Encarnacion-Strand should break camp with the big league club or be sent to Triple-A, the Cincinnati faithful should expect the young infielder to remain in major-league camp until final roster cuts are made. He's earned that distinction.
However, Elly De La Cruz could very well be part of the next round of roster cuts. De La Cruz has played well this spring, showing off his wheels and his power, but he's simply not hitting enough and has 11 strikeouts in 30 at-bats.
The plan all along has been to deploy either Kevin Newman or Jose Barrero at shortstop on Opening Day while sending De La Cruz back to the minor leagues for more seasoning. De La Cruz could be the best player on the ball club very soon, but he still has some work left before getting to the big leagues.
Some other names to watch will be Casey Legumina, Ricky Karcher, and Brandon Williamson. Legumina and Karcher were always long shots to make the Opening Day roster, and Williamson hasn't done enough this spring to warrant the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation. The lefty has been good at times, but will probably begin the year at Triple-A Louisville.
Some non-roster invitees will probably be mixed in the next round of roster cuts as well. But players like Austin Romine, Matt Reynolds, and Jason Vosler will probably stick around until the final week of spring training.