GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Spencer Steer really wants to be the Cincinnati Reds’ backup second baseman this year.
No matter what, he’s going to play every day. Steer has gone on to become one of the most consistent players on the Reds. He’s a candidate to hit second in the lineup this year, and he has hit 20+ homers in each of the last three seasons.
Steer still carries himself like a utility guy.
“I feel like I need to re-prove myself or earn my job again,” Steer said. “I haven’t played second base in a couple of years. I’m more than capable of playing a good second base. I’m more than capable of playing a good left and right field. That’s what I’m trying to prove. I’m also trying to prove I’m healthy.”
This spring, Steer is mostly splitting his time between left field (where he’s currently slated to get the most playing time) and second base. When the lineup is at full strength, Steer will probably play left field. On days off for Elly De La Cruz or Matt McLain, some pieces will move around and Steer could play second base. He was a Gold Glove finalist at first base last year, and that’s another tool in his back pocket.
This spring, Steer is putting in extra time to get reps at all of his positions.
“Behind the catchers, he’s probably the busiest guy in camp,” TJ Friedl said. “He puts a lot of work into what he’s doing and takes a lot of pride in it. It speaks volumes to who he is. Guys see that. Guys notice that. Guys in the clubhouse see him be the same guy every single day. Those are the types of leaders that you want.”
The entire construction of the Reds’ roster wouldn’t work without Steer. They had the ability to sign a DH in Eugenio Suárez because Steer’s versatility covers them in a lot of areas. A bench bat like Nathaniel Lowe can make the team because Steer covers the Reds’ depth in a lot of areas. This year, in addition to filling the “Spencer Steer role” in the lineup, he’s also effectively the replacement for Santiago Espinal from a defensive versatility perspective.
Steer is sneakily one of the guys that the Reds can least afford to lose. Terry Francona says that managers stay up at night worrying about contingencies, and Steer’s versatility is the answer to a lot of problems.
This year, for the first time since 2023, the plan is to move Steer all around the field.
“I want to be the guy that they can throw in a spot in a pinch,” Steer said. “I really enjoy that part of it. It gives me more opportunities to be in the lineup. It allows the team to be more flexible. That starts with being a utility guy for my entire professional career. I don’t know anything else.”
Steer was a third-round pick coming out of college, and he was never a top prospect. He made the decision a long time ago that he was going to need to be as versatile and as durable as he could be to stick in the big leagues.
His journey from a hit-first minor league utility player into an established big league slugger isn’t a very common one.
“I take a lot of pride in being available,” Steer said. “You always hear the story about Wally Pipp. That’s my biggest fear. I just want to be available. I like to be a guy that when I show up, you know what you’re going to get out of me.”
Steer is one of the toughest guys on the Reds, and he was battling injuries for nearly the entire 2025 season.
He talked his way onto the Opening Day roster last year when he shouldn’t have following an injury to Austin Hays. Steer had missed all of spring training with a shoulder injury — he couldn’t throw — but successfully made the case that he should be available as a DH option. His lack of spring training reps caught up to him as he hit .111 with no power over the first 20 games of the season.
Then on April 20, he was cleared to play the field. He felt like a “real” player again. When he was a DH, he only had one way to impact the game and put more pressure on his at-bats. Playing defense also really clears his mind, and he wasn’t the same player when he didn’t get to do that.
Between April 20 and the end of the season, Steer posted a very solid .762 OPS with 20 homers. Even during that stretch, he was almost never entirely healthy.
Steer dealt with a quad injury for most of the summer.
“There was frustration there,” Steer said. “I felt good for two weeks, pushed it and reinjured it. I almost had to put a governor on the speed I was able to play at. That was a tough one.”
Steer said that it really meant a lot to him that he still got the chance to play every day. He says that opportunity showed him how much the team really believed in him.
In September, Steer grinded through a rib injury. Through that, he still played his best baseball of the season. Following one of the Reds’ huge late September wins, Terry Francona said that Steer had been putting the team on his back.
“He has posted every single year,” Friedl said. “He’s always available. It says a lot about him and who he is. He wants to be in the thick of it with the team through 162.”
To become the Reds’ most clutch player in September, Steer said that he applied lessons that he learned from the 2023 season. Steer’s rookie year ended with the Reds a few games short of a playoff spot. His stats were actually pretty good during the final month of the year, but he was frustrated with how he played down the stretch in 2023.
“In certain situations in games that felt bigger, that’s when I tried to do more and tried to hit the ball harder instead of just taking it for what it is,” Steer said. “Just because it’s Game 155 doesn’t mean I need to make it any different.”
He didn’t feel like he was doing anything special in September of 2025. “I just had to keep doing what I was doing,” Steer said. “It just feels good to help the team win.”He really was making a huge impact, and the Reds wouldn’t have been close to the playoffs without him.
Steer took pride in his 2025 season as a whole, especially with how he performed after he was cleared to play defense. But in 2025, he still wasn’t the real Spencer Steer.
He wasn’t moving as well as he wanted. After stealing 25 bags in 2024, he stole seven in 2025. He was stuck at first base and didn’t get to showcase his versatility.
Steer missed all of that. In 2026, he’s getting back to being a do-it-all player again.
“I’m thankful that they trust me to play in different spots and be the guy they can mix and match with,” Steer said. “If we have a need at a position that day, I can go and do that. It’s a challenge, but I love it so much because of how tough it is to do.”
He hasn’t played much second base since the summer of 2023. Last year, due to the quad injury, he likely wouldn’t have had great range there. He’s much faster now than he was last year, and the very early signs of Steer at second base have been good.
“That’s a part of his game,” Matt McLain said. “He can play everywhere. He’s consistent. It’s fun to watch. He’s a stud.”
During the offseason, Steer’s big focus was cleaning up his running mechanics. He felt like his old mechanics worsened the quad injury last year, and Steer worked to develop a smoother running form. In the winter, Steer did a lot of speed and agility training. Now, he says, he can run more “effortlessly.”
That will really help his range in left field, which is where Steer is expected to play the most in 2026. It can also really help him at second base when he’s needed there. “I’m hoping to earn that backup job, that’s for sure,” Steer said.
Steer has been around for a bit now, but he’s still just 28 years old. He should be entering the prime of his career. He’s also entering the stage where he’s becoming one of the veterans that the younger guys are looking up to. In spring training, it feels like all eyes are on Steer and Freidl, two veterans who are setting the tone and bringing a positive energy.
When Steer was a rookie, former Reds catcher Curt Casali told me that Steer had the it factor to be a great leader one day. Three years later, and it could be that time for Steer.
“Getting more experience under my belt, I understand that I can lead by example,” Steer said. “I’m not necessarily the most vocal guy. I think I can have an impact by getting here early and going about my work on a daily basis.”
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