Photo: Redleg Nation Staff
The Cincinnati Reds have made five roster moves this morning as they get set to play the series finale in Cleveland against the Guardians. Perhaps the biggest move of the five is that the club designated outfielder Rece Hinds for assignment. That move was needed because catcher Jose Trevino had to go on the 10-day injured list after injuring his hamstring in last night’s loss. Cincinnati needed to bring in another catcher and there were none on the 40-man roster that were in the minor leagues, so they had to add P.J. Higgins to the 40-man and needed a roster spot, which came at the expense of Hinds. Luis Mey was optioned to Triple-A and Jose Franco was called back up from Louisville.
Fair or unfair, Cincinnati seems like they have given up on Rece Hinds. After killing the ball in Triple-A since the start of the 2025 season, the Reds called Hinds up in the middle of April and gave him a short opportunity to show that he could do it in the big leagues. He didn’t. In his 12 games he went 4-33 with 18 strikeouts and just one walk.
The 25-year-old has now played in 51 games in the big leagues. In his first six games he went 11-22 with three doubles, a triple, and five home runs. That earned him the National League’s Player of the Week award. Since then he’s hit .100/.150/.210 with a 45% strikeout rate in 107 plate appearances with the Reds spread out over 2024, 2025, and 2026. Blessed with top tier power, plus speed, and a big time arm, Hinds just was never able to figure out how to lay off of the breaking ball that found its way out of the strikezone in the big leagues.
Luis Mey pitched in Saturday night’s game and struggled. He couldn’t find the strikezone and wound up giving up two runs and the lead before exiting the game before he could finish the inning he started. He’ll head back to the minor leagues to once again work on his ability to throw strikes.
Jose Franco is now back with the Reds and it would seem that he’s going to be working out of the bullpen again after going to Louisville to be stretched out as a starter. He didn’t quite get there, with his last outing being a 3-inning relief appearance on Thursday when he threw 47 pitches without giving up a run and striking out six batters.
P.J. Higgins is back with the Reds. He had spent time with Cincinnati in in April, but earlier this week he was designated for assignment when the team signed starting pitcher Chris Paddack. Higgins cleared waivers and was outrighted to Louisville where he accepted the assignment. Three days later the injury to Trevino is bringing him back.
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