The Cincinnati Reds need another outfielder

We need to divorce ourselves from certain concepts as Cincinnati Reds fans. No more accepting that late-20’s guy who has a few hundred big league plate appearances automatically deserves a spot because he crushed the ball in Louisville. If you can’t crush in Triple-A in your late-20’s, you either better be a real good catcher or looking into a new gig. Payroll has been absolutely cut to the bone and the Reds have told us they have money to spend. So as I go through this article, no thinking about this or that AAAA player. Nope. We’re talking about big leaguers in this piece.

Right now, the starting lineup looks something like this (quibble how you see fit, the lineup is only part of the point here):

C – Tyler Stephenson

1B – Christian Encarnacion-Strand

2B – Matt McLain

SS- Elly De La Cruz

3B – Noelvi Marte

LF – Spencer Steer

CF – TJ Friedl

RF – Will Benson/Jake Fraley

2B/DH who looks like he’s about to be traded – Jonathan India

That’s, I suppose, a relatively full lineup at the moment, but as noted, India seems to be on the move. That opens up one spot for a bat. Also, there’s an issue in the outfield, and it’s something I’ve been thinking about since Cincinnati cut Nick Senzel. Who are they running out against a lefty?

The jury is still out on whether or not Will Benson can hit lefties, but Jake Fraley certainly can’t. And, as much as I love Will Benson (and I do, he’s one of my favorite current Reds) his BABIP from last year scares me at least a little.

I also LOVE Spencer Steer as the new Ben Zobrist. Being able to play all over and give guys a day off make him extremely valuable. I’d rather he not be locked into one position.

So what if the Reds made a package deal where they traded India AND Fraley.

Both India and Fraley are good baseball players who deserve to get significant playing time on basically any team. However, they are also extremely limited. Neither really has anything in the way of defensive flexibility and Fraley is hampered by his inability to hit lefties. If either of them hit as well as Spencer Steer or Matt McLain seems likely to, this would be a different conversation, but as is, they are the two weakest links who are regulars AND they are both incapable of serving in the super-sub role.

Perhaps the Reds trade them for prospects and throw a bunch of money at Cody Bellinger. Perhaps they find a team who is willing to give up an outfielder who can hit left and right-handed pitching and who had a second baseman weak enough that India + Fraley still represents an upgrade for them. I don’t know, but it seems like a route that should be explored. In that scenario, you could roll out something like this:

C – Stephenson

1B – Encarnacion-Strand

2B – McLain

SS – De La Cruz

3B – Marte

OF – New Guy

OF – Friedl

OF – Benson

DH – Steer OR guy who needs a day off while Steer plays the field

You could more or less run out that lineup every day with one of your bench guys (none of whom have the qualifications to get regular playing time on a team that should be looking to contend) occasionally giving Benson a breather against a rough lefty.

Now, in an ideal world, I think the Reds would do this AND add at least one other bat because injuries will absolutely happen. Ideally, Steer still floats around and everyone gets a day off every nine games or so when everyone is healthy. But it is hard for me to see how India and Fraley still work on this team. Especially with Senzel gone.