With Opening Day getting closer, let’s go through a fun fact or two for each Cincinnati Reds’ position player. (This article also serves as a recap of my spring training coverage if you missed a story).
Attached to every player’s name is a hyperlink to a story I wrote about them this spring. So if you want to read more about that player, click their name.
TJ Friedl (CF)
Before last season, Terry Francona told TJ Friedl that he wanted to see Friedl on base twice a game. Last year, three leadoff hitters in MLB reached base two-plus times in a game 77-or-more times: Shohei Ohtani, Fernando Tatis Jr. and TJ Friedl. He’s an elite on-base guy and one of the best leaders on the team.
The big thing this year will be getting back on track defensively. Friedl said that he felt slow last year, and he spent the winter working to develop and reestablish the burst and range that he had in 2023. Friedl is 30 this year. Since 2023, there have only been eight players in all of baseball who are 30-or-older and played 100+ games in a season in center field. Friedl wants to buck that trend and stay in center field for years to come.
Matt McLain (2B)
He spent the spring wearing long pants for the first time. Elly De La Cruz said he has been trying for years to get Matt McLain to have that look. De La Cruz said, “Long pants, more flow, more swag.”
McLain earned the No. 2 spot in the lineup by making tangible progress with his at-bat quality and his approach against low and away sliders. He has regained some confidence.
Elly De La Cruz (SS)
In practices and games, there’s a bit of a defensive competition between Elly De La Cruz and Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. In practice, they battle to see who makes the fewest mistakes. While Hayes is the more consistent defender at this point, they also go back and forth delivering incredible highlight plays.
For the first time, there’s no statistical number like 70 steals or 162 games that De La Cruz is chasing this year. This year is about being a more consistent winning player.
Is De La Cruz’s prime about to begin?
“You’ll see,” De La Cruz says, laughing. “You’ll see.”
Sal Stewart (1B)
This is going to be Terry Francona’s 25th year as a manager.
In his entire managerial career, he has only had one rookie make at least 25 starts in a season in the cleanup spot. That would be Scott Rolen in 1997, which was Francona’s first year as a manager. Rolen went on to be the Rookie of the Year.
If Sal Stewart ends up hitting cleanup this year, he’d join Rolen on that list.
The fact that Francona is considering batting Stewart cleanup over Suárez tells you everything about how Francona feels about him.
Eugenio Suárez (DH)
In Mariners spring training in 2022, Eugenio Suárez could tell that a young Noelvi Marte was putting too much pressure on himself.
“The advice he gave me was your time will come,” Marte said, via interpreter Tomás Vera. “Your time to get to the big leagues will come. Relax. Work on the things you need to work on. Success will follow you. He helped me understand instead of rushing, let things happen.”
The advice really helped Marte.
It’s an example of the impact that Suárez can make in the clubhouse.
Spencer Steer (LF)
“You always hear the story about Wally Pipp,” Spencer Steer said. “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.”
He’s sneakily one of the guys that the Reds can least afford to lose. He’s essentially their utility player in addition to being an important bat. His versatility allowed the Reds to put a true bench bat like Nathaniel Lowe on the roster.
Tyler Stephenson (C)
No homegrown Reds player has taken the traditional path to free agency (six consecutive years on the big league roster) since Michael Lorenzen hit free agency at the end of the 2021 season. No Reds position player has taken that path since Zack Cozart in 2017.
Tyler Stephenson is set to be a free agent at the end of the year.
“You never know what the future holds,” Stephenson said. “I love being here, and we’ll obviously see what happens. My goal this year is to have as much fun as I can because this is the group of guys that I came in with. I’ll try to have fun with it.”
Noelvi Marte (RF)
Noelvi Marte needed a “nudge” in early March as he had a poor start to camp. The coaches brought him in for a conversation. Marte immediately turned it around and did enough to reclaim the starting right field job.
Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B)
Over the last two years, Hayes has learned that the LG5 disk in his back is “the most important one.” Hayes has a chronic back issue — a degenerative disk — that he’s constantly managing.
“With the alignment issues that I have, stuff feels different day-to-day,” Hayes said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m standing a certain way but it’s completely different. I battle with that a lot.”
He’s getting better at dealing with those back issues, but it’s a constant process.
Will Benson
Terry Francona has said that Will Benson can be “streaky.” Benson’s big focus is being better at developing consistency.
In the spring, Benson went up to Eric Davis for a one-on-one conversation about the topic.
“I’m so grateful day-to-day to be in his presence and to have a resource like that,” Benson said. “He’s not only somebody who looks like me. In some ways, he thinks like me. He also has a rich history in this game. To be able to ask him so many questions and to know that he has experienced it, there’s nothing better than that.
Dane Myers
He’s known as a standout playmaker in center field. His defensive mindset is a product of his experience as a pitcher.
Dane Myers’ professional career started on the mound. He said, “I remember pitching and thinking that a couple of guys weren’t giving it their all and playing hard defense for me. Now, I’m on the flip side of things. I like to make plays for my pitchers.”
He’s also known for the edge that he plays with on the field. Myers says that edge comes from being close to being out of baseball at one point. He has a real appreciation for where he’s at.
Jose Trevino
He’s extremely passionate about working with and mentoring minor league catchers in the organization, and his enthusiasm shines through every time he speaks about it.
“I’m not going to play this game forever,” Jose Trevino said. “I understand that. I know that. I feel like I take a lot of pride that if (guys) are going to be around me, it’s my job to help them as much as I can. Whether it’s giving them a shortcut on how to receive a pitch, how to block a pitch, whatever it is. I’m giving them my feedback.”
Prediction: Trevino is the best catcher in the league at the ABS challenge system this year.
Nathaniel Lowe
Nathaniel Lowe’s mom, Wendy, died it early March. Lowe decided to stay in camp with the Reds as he competed for a spot on the team. He said, “I feel like she’d want me to keep going.” The plan was that Lowe’s dad would visit him in Arizona in March.
Lowe’s dad made it out to Arizona last week, and he got to see Lowe on the day that the first baseman learned that he had made the Reds’ Opening Day roster.
“I’m very grateful for being raised around the right people,” Lowe said. “I feel prepared to take on what life is throwing at me.”
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