Reds invite two catchers to big league spring training
The Cincinnati Reds are inviting two catching prospects to big league spring training. This afternoon they announced that Mat Nelson and Daniel Vellojin have gotten non-roster invites to join the club this spring. With these invites, the Reds spring training roster is now up to 61 players.
Mat Nelson and Daniel Vellojin also give the club seven catchers for spring training (worth noting that as I type this, Mat Nelson is listed as an outfielder on the Reds official non-roster section – he’s never played another position besides catcher or designated hitter since leaving high school). The other non-roster catchers in big league camp will be P.J. Higgins, Michael Trautwein, and Austin Wynns.
In 2023 Daniel Vellojin was coming off of a big offseason where he hit .292/.430/.597 in the Colombian Winter League. The Reds pushed him to Double-A, where he had finished the 2022 season, but his hot hitting in the winter didn’t carry over. In 70 games with the Lookouts in 2023 he hit just .198/.312/.308 with 12 doubles, a triple, and 4 home runs. He threw out 30% of opposing base stealers, but he also allowed 10 passed balls in just 68 starts behind the plate. You can see his career stats here.
Mat Nelson, who just turned 25 and is a year older than Vellojin, spent most of his 2023 season with High-A Dayton. In 89 games with the Dragons he hit .220/.322/.422 with 9 doubles and 18 home runs. He then spent the final three weeks with Double-A Chattanooga and hit .297/.469/.568 with three home homers. Behind the plate he threw out 29% of opposing baserunners and allowed just five passed balls in 82 starts at catcher. You can see his career stats here.
Neither guy is likely to make the club. With Tyler Stephenson and Luke Maile as the guys that have jobs locked in if they remain healthy, there’s still plenty of guys behind them before you are likely to get to Nelson or Vellojin, who both have the need to prove themselves in Double-A and Triple-A still.
