WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A familiar face arrived in Houston Astros camp Monday morning: Josh Reddick, the former outfielder, for a stint as a guest instructor in spring training.

The Astros have a largely inexperienced outfield group with Cam Smith, Zach Cole and Joey Loperfido all vying for roster spots with less than 140 games of major-league experience. Houston major-league field coordinator Jason Bell, who works with the team’s outfielders, just departed camp to serve as first-base coach for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic. Reddick will provide “an extra set of eyes and hands on the workouts” during his stay, manager Joe Espada said.

Advertisement

Reddick, 39, played four seasons for the Astros from 2017-20. The left-handed hitting right fielder known for his colorful personality and affinities for wrestling and Spider-Man totaled parts of 13 seasons in the majors with the Red Sox, Athletics, Dodgers, Astros and Diamondbacks, playing his last game in 2021 and officially retiring in 2023. He has since appeared on Astros radio broadcasts and as a pre- and post-game analyst for their TV broadcasts on Space City Home Network.

Monday morning, Reddick was in baseball pants and on a back field in West Palm Beach, as the Astros’ outfielders ran through defensive drills. Espada said he introduced Reddick to the team in its morning clubhouse meeting – and made a point to bring up one of Reddick’s highlights from the 2017 playoffs.

In the ALCS that year, Reddick and then-Astros shortstop Carlos Correa combined on a relay to cut down the Yankees’ Brett Gardner on a potential triple early in Game 2 behind starter Justin Verlander. Espada had a notable view of the play as the Yankees’ third-base coach at the time.

“We always talk about how important defense is to this organization, and to be fundamentally sound, and that was a fundamentally well-executed play,” Espada said. “So, want to have his presence around some of our young outfielders (who) can benefit from having him on both sides of the ball. And also the personality. We all know that Red has that little red-ass in him, and I think it will be beneficial for our players to have him around.”

Advertisement

Transactions

In their first moves to pare their spring roster, the Astros reassigned catcher Will Bush and infielder Edwin Díaz to minor-league camp Monday. Houston still has 64 players in major-league camp.

This article originally published at Josh Reddick back with Houston Astros to work with outfielders as guest instructor.