Cincinnati Reds links - Reds cut eleven in first roster purge of Spring Training

While you may have seen that other MLB teams have started trimming their numbers in big league camp by reassigning players to their minor league affiliates, as of Sunday the Cincinnati Reds hadn't taken that step.  That changed on Monday, however, as the team cut 11 from the 62 that were currently taking part in big league camp.  Among 40-man roster members, Carlos Contreras was optioned to Louisville while Rookie Davis, Sal Romano and Amir Garrett were optioned to Pensacola, and notable prospects Alex Blandino, Phillip Ervin, Calten Daal, Eric Jagielo, Matt Magill, Nick Travieso, and Chad Wallach were all reassigned to minor league camp.

It's not surprising that the Reds waited this long to make their initial cuts, especially given how many new faces are featuring prominently in the squad this year and every day they spend in the same camp is one less day of informalities.  That said, I'd still expect to see several of these names pop up as daily invitees to big league camp to help fill out benches, especially in the event of a split-squad day.

Speaking of which, minor leaguer Beamer Weems will be in the dugout for the Reds today when they take on the Los Angeles Angels.  That's Beamer MFin' Weems...be excited.  Likely more important, though, is that Jose Peraza is getting a start in CF in this one, which is one part emblematic of the team trying to test his versatility with Brandon Phillips still on the roster and another part testing their CF depth in the event that Billy Hamilton's shoulder is still kaput when the calendar turns to April.

MLB.com's Mark Sheldon noted that Michael Lorenzen felt soreness in his elbow after throwing over the weekendand is set to have an MRI to help define the issue.  Way back when the Reds insisted on receiving high-quality arms en masse in exchange for all the established players they were trading and many of you threw up your arms screaming "why another pitcher, get a position player," well, this is why.  John Lamb's out after surgery, Raisel Iglesias' saw his spring schedule pushed back due to shoulder questions, Tony Cingrani has been relegated to the bullpen for similar reasons, Keyvius Sampson's dealing with triceps issues, we have no idea what a Jonathon Crawford is, and now Michael Lorenzen is dealing with arm issues.  THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A PITCHING PROSPECT, largely because they flame out & blow up more often than you burn your toast.  Hopefully, though, Lorenzen's issue is a minor one, since the team's touted depth stands to be tested prior to Homer Bailey's return if these maladies keep popping up.  Either that, or several service-clocks are going to be forced to start a lot earlier than the team would otherwise wish.

What's Kyle Lohse up to these days, anyway?

The Enquirer's Zach Buchanan spoke with Joey Votto over the weekend about several things, the biggest of which being Votto bucking his supposed aging-curve in 2015 with a second half performance for the ages.  Once again, Votto proved to be one of the absolute best and most introspective interviews in sports, and it's one more fascinating chance for readers to see into the mind of one of the best hitters in Reds history.  His comments paired with GM Dick Williams asserting that Votto will be the team's cornerstone for years and isn't going anywhere is enough to get me hot dang excited.

From a fantasy perspective, FanGraphs' Brad Johnson is bullish on both Jesse Winker and Phil Ervin.  That's good news, I guess.

Finally, MLB.com has put together a list of one player per MLB team that is poised to spring forward in the 2016 season.  Daylight savings time jokes aside, they're bullish on a Reds' bat that I think we're all excited to watch in a full season worth of PAs this year, too:  Eugenio Suarez.  Henny-O's got a lot on his plate by taking over at a position where he's got virtually no experience and filling the shoes of fan-favorite Todd Frazier, but there's this glimmer of hope in my eye when I see him swing that there's a .280/.330/.450 season in store for him at some point down the line.  Maybe, just maybe, that's in 2016.