Inside The Reds

Cincinnati Reds Roster Indecision is Telling With Opening Day Looming

The Reds haven't finalized their roster with Opening Day looming.

Jeff Carr

Cincinnati Reds manger Terry Francona chats with bench coach Brad Mills during spring training, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at the Cincinnati Reds Player Development Complex in Goodyear, Ariz.
Cincinnati Reds manger Terry Francona chats with bench coach Brad Mills during spring training, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at the Cincinnati Reds Player Development Complex in Goodyear, Ariz. / Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Cincinnati Reds haven't finalized their roster. They have two available roster spots open for position players with Opening Day just two days away.

There are two reasons why they haven't finalized their roster.

They aren’t sold on Stuart Fairchild, Blake Dunn, and Jacob Hurtubise filling those spots. They could be using Tuesday's game in Dayton to finish their evaluations.

Fairchild’s spring statistics are uninspiring, but if that were the only requirement then Hurtubise would have won the spot. He has had an awesome spring. There’s something more here, which leads me to believe the second point is the one that’s being focused on.

The Reds could be scouring the waiver wire or working on a trade.

Manager Terry Francona could be searching for something he doesn’t currently see in the three candidates for the final two spots. It’s likely that Francona likes one of them, but thinks the other two aren’t quite where they need to be. It's reasonable to think Dunn could be the leader at this moment.

It is clear that the Reds are missing something from the currently in-house candidates. They have already sent Cooper Bowman back to the Athletics, they’ve demoted both Noelvi Marte and Will Benson to Triple-A, and only have a few players left in camp that could fill the final spots. The pitching staff is set, so it’s all about the position players.

Just two days remain to deliberate. Don't be shocked if the Reds make a move ahead of Opening Day.

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Jeff Carr
JEFF CARR

Jeff has hosted the only daily podcast covering the Cincinnati Reds since 2018. He’s been a life long fan of the Reds. He was at Clinchmas and the 2015 Home Run Derby. He is also the channel manager that supports all MLB podcasts on the Locked On Podcast Network. Jeff has extensive media experience as he covered college basketball and volleyball for Tennessee State and college softball for Mercer University. 

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