Photo: Doug Gray
The Cincinnati Reds began the new week with their third round of roster cuts. Three players were sent back to minor league camp today, leaving the team with 42 players in big league spring training. Infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand and pitcher Chase Petty were optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Catcher Michael Trautwein was reassigned to minor league camp.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand got a later start to spring training as he was dealing with a hamstring issue. He only missed a few games but when you aren’t playing every day that means he was limited to six games through the first two-and-a-half weeks of actual gameplay. He went 5-15 (.333) with two doubles, no walks, and three strikeouts. Coming into camp he had things working against him as a guy who pretty much only plays first base and third base where the Reds have tons of more established options to go with.
Chase Petty saw some minimal time with Cincinnati last season and things did not go well for him. In the minor leagues he was outstanding in the first half, but in his second half he struggled in a big way. During his two outings in the spring he tossed 4.0 shutout innings while giving up two hits, walking two, and picked up two strikeouts. The 22-year-old will head back to Triple-A and try to turn things around with Louisville this season after his disappointing second half there last year.
Michael Trautwein is the only player in this group who is not on the 40-man roster. The catcher was a non-roster invitee. He missed much of 2025 with an injury, playing in just 23 non rehab games. The 26-year-old played in six games with the Reds this spring and went 1-7 with a run scored and two strikeouts.
Cincinnati will still have 16 more players to make decisions on this spring in order to get their roster down to 26 players for Opening Day. We will soon find out more about Hunter Greene and that could make it just 15 players they need to decide on if he’s not going to be ready to begin the season on time.
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