Cam Bedrosian, Tyler Naquin make Cincinnati Reds roster for Opening Day

It may sound strange to speak of the addition of two former 1st round picks to a big league roster at the end of March, but nothing about this Cincinnati Reds offseason has truly been routine. Still, that’s the news of the day this Monday, as the Reds announced they’ve officially added both RHP Cam Bedrosian and OF Tyler Naquin to their roster ahead of Thursday’s Opening Day, with an additional series of cuts as part of the news.

In Bedrosian, the Reds are adding a veteran righty to their bullpen mix, one who for whatever reason was able to be landed on a minor league contract with an invite to camp over the winter. Since the start of the 2018 season, he’d pitched to a tidy 3.41 ERA and 133 ERA+ across 140 IP for the Los Angeles Angels, and the 16 K he put up in just 8.2 IP for the Reds in Cactus League play this spring showed he certainly still looked the part.

(Of course, this does mean the Reds will end up with a former Angels reliever after all despite Noe Ramirez being released outright over the weekend, the latter serving as the ‘return’ for the Raisel Iglesias salary dump. I digresss...)

In Naquin, the Reds add a lefty-swinging former Cleveland stalwart, one who’ll add versatility and experience to an outfield mix that’s without Shogo Akiyama for the time being. Naquin has had his ups and downs so far in his career, some of which can be attributed to injuries, but looks healthy and has been swinging a good bat of late with a trio of spring dingers to his name so far.

Odds are that Naquin beat out fellow lefty OF Mark Payton for that spot on the bench for the time being, with Aristides Aquino presumably in-line to be the fifth OF come Opening Day.

We’ve still got a few more roster moves to expect before Opening Day, however, as we wait for the roster move to get Jonathan India added while the final spots on the pitching staff get sorted, too.