It isn’t exactly a who’s who of modern baseball sluggers, but it’s impossible not to notice a few specifics about the hitters the Cincinnati Reds had in 2025 and, conveniently for this article, no longer have.
Miguel Andujar was their biggest trade deadline acquisition on the hitting front, a right-handed hitter who mashed lefties with the team formerly known as the Oakland A’s prior to landing in Cincinnati shortly after July 31st.
Don’t forget, though, that the Reds actually sought out the services of Garrett Hampson back in late May. It was certainly early enough in the year that I don’t blame you one bit for forgetting about it, but the Reds also gave Hampson a pair of starts (among a trio of games played) in left field – and he hits right-handed, too. That all came just two weeks after the Reds sent Andrew Moore to the San Diego Padres to acquire Connor Joe – a right-handed hitter who specializes at hitting lefties – to help augment their corner outfield and corner infield mix.
Hell, infielder Santiago Espinal even started four games as the team’s left fielder in 2025! The career (right-handed hitting) utility infielder landed those among the just six games in his career where he’s started in left – with the other two coming as a member of the 2024 Reds!
Those moves came as Austin Hays – a right-handed hitting corner outfielder – battled injuries once again during a 2025 season in which he was otherwise precisely what the Reds had signed him to be. That, of course, was a right-handed hitting corner outfielder to hit in the middle of their lineup regularly because they sure as hell needed just that.
Hays, Joe, Hampson, and Andujar were all brought in during calendar year 2025, and all are now in free agency. Espinal, brought in early in 2024, is also a free agent. Right-handed hitters, all of them!
The specific dynamics of their presences and departures aren’t a one-for-one during this offseason, of course. Sal Stewart emerged as someone who almost perfectly can replicate what Andujar provided, and more. Ke’Bryan Hayes was also brought into the fold in that time, his bat completely imperfect despite him being a righty who’ll play everyday and hit lefties (at least) better than he hits righties. Noelvi Marte was moved to right full-time as a result of those two developments, so the Reds at least have built in a cadre of some righties who’ll help fill those roles.
It’s pretty obvious that’s something they knew they needed at several points last year, and they addressed it (even if they never addressed it well).
As of right now, they have (on paper) an outfield that will again likely feature one righty and two lefties most days. Last year, that was Hays, TJ Friedl, and Jake Fraley/Will Benson. This year, it looks like JJ Bleday/Will Benson, Friedl, and Marte will form that updated corps most days, with newly acquired Dane Myers (a righty) in that mix. On an everyday basis, the infield of Hayes, Elly De La Cruz (switch-hitter), Matt McLain, and Spencer Steer all has the capability of hitting righty, with Stewart – whether at DH or rotating through – providing that, too.
Both catchers Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino hit righty. Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Rece Hinds also hit righty, and are the depth at both corner infield and corner outfield that the Reds have in-house at the moment.
It’s enough to make you wonder if simply adding Bleday, who was brought in just last week, is enough to help augment their lefty vs. RHP portion of the lineup. Keep in mind the 2025 Reds posted just a 97 wRC+ against RHP as a team, a number that ranked tied for just 21st overall. That was also with Fraley in the fold, all while Bleday managed just a 76 wRC+ against RHP in his season in otherwise hitter-friendly Sacramento. It’s enough to make the otherwise obvious fit of chasing Kyle Schwarber earlier this offseason even that much more obvious, really.
The question now is whether the Reds will actually put their money towards addressing the pretty decent need for a left-handed hitter before Opening Day. Because if they do not, that puts even more outsized pressure on Gavin Lux, whom they went out and acquired prior to 2025 in a move that, at the time, seemed redundant in its own right.
They certainly won’t be after the top remaining names on the market who fit that bill like Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger. Luis Arraez? Perhaps, considering he ticks all the Reds boxes for a) making contact and b) not hitting homers at all, though where he’d slot in among the everyday nine remains to be seen. It’s a spot on the greater roster that still remains to be determined, even if Bleday and Benson have some compelling cases as to why they deserve the chance given the current options.
Anyway, here’s another picture of current free agent Jesse Winker for no particular reason:
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images