{"id":286803,"date":"2025-11-12T06:20:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T06:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/286803\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T06:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T06:20:06","slug":"how-spencer-steers-glove-plays-key-role-in-cincinnati-reds-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/286803\/","title":{"rendered":"How Spencer Steer’s glove plays key role in Cincinnati Reds’ offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2013 The Cincinnati Reds<\/a> need outfield help. They need more pitching.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the most intriguing position to watch<\/a> this winter might be first base.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because one of the biggest surprise success stories of their playoff season was the defensive development at that position of the versatile Spencer Steer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More: 5 Cincinnati Reds storylines to watch entering MLB free agency for realists and dreamers<\/a><\/p>\n

And for a low-budget team that needs to upgrade its fielding almost as desperately as it needs to add slugging, Steer\u2019s fit into their 2026 plans could be critical to how \u2013 maybe even whether \u2013 the Reds improve their playoff chances after this year\u2019s quick exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take pride in defense,\u201d said Steer, who wound up a full-time first baseman because of a need to keep him in the lineup as he returned from a shoulder injury and because of lack of production by others. \u201cI take pride in being a complete player, so I want to be a guy that you know can have a positive impact on both sides of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third-year player did it well enough to earn Gold Glove finalist mention in his first season at one position full-time, just two years after becoming one of only four Reds in history to make at least 15 starts at four different spots.<\/p>\n

Now the Reds have to measure the value of exceptional fielding at an often under-valued defensive position against the value of Steer\u2019s versatility as they approach a 2026 season that already includes a three-time Gold Glove winner added across the diamond in third baseman Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes.<\/p>\n

General manager Brad Meador said during this week’s general managers meetings in Las Vegas that early offseason talks internally have included the idea of getting Steer reps at outfield and second base again as they gauge whether they can add the hitting help they need in the form of an outfielder or might have to expand their net to include a more limited infielder to add that bat.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d love to figure out how to make the best defensive lineup you can while also providing offense as well,\u201d team president Nick Krall said. \u201cYou don\u2019t become a Gold Glove finalist if you\u2019re not a good first baseman. He got better at is as the season progressed, the more he played there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be nice to figure out if we can add maybe an outfielder.\u201d<\/p>\n

What’s more valuable? The exceptional fielding at first or the ability to move all over the field<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think you can answer that appropriately right now because we don\u2019t know the makeup of our team next year,\u201d manager Terry Francona said near the end of the season. \u201cIf he can accumulate his at-bats moving around, that can be really good. It just depends on what the makeup of the team is.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the free agency variable, the first-base question also involves where promising rookie hitter Sal Stewart might fit if he forces his way onto the roster out of spring training.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re just going to have to look at what\u2019s available this offseason and figure out how everything fits,” Krall said.<\/p>\n

An overriding concern as the Reds approach that task is a continued emphasis on trying to improve what has been a poor fielding team in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

A sizable part of this year\u2019s improvement was Steer performing \u201cabout as good as you can\u201d at first \u2212 and the ripple effect that tends to have on an infield\u2019s overall performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice knowing you have him over there because you make a bad throw and he\u2019s probably going to make a play,\u201d second baseman Matt McLain said. \u201cI think that goes unnoticed, too, how some of the plays that he makes on bad throws are unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francona and \u201cSwiss-army\u201d coach Mike Napoli were quick to point out how hard Steer worked at the position in the spring and throughout the season with Napoli and infield coach Freddie Benavides to make quick improvement at the position and learn some of its nuances.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone thinks, \u2018Hey, you can just throw this guy at first base.\u2019 But there\u2019s a lot to it,\u201d said Napoli, who made the transition from catcher to World Series-champion first baseman in Boston more than a decade ago. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of times where you\u2019re really off the base now without the shifting (allowed) and with right-handed hitters. Where you have to be able to take your eye off the base and do your footwork and know where you have to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to think about some of the Gold Gloves around the infield (in baseball),\u201d Napoli added. \u201cGo and look. I can guarantee they\u2019ve got a good first baseman.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, look at the most successful teams.<\/p>\n

The last 10 full-season World Series champions all had Gold Glove winners as their primary first basemen (albeit, Freddie Freeman representing three of them with the 2021 Braves and 2024-25 Dodgers).<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have won the last two World Series in part behind championship-level fielding. This year\u2019s American League champ, the Blue Jays, led the majors in fielding metrics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you watch the playoffs, they\u2019re all pretty good defenses,\u201d Steer said. \u201cThat\u2019s something the last couple years we probably weren\u2019t the best at. But it\u2019s definitely gotten better.\u201d<\/p>\n

In no small part due to Steer\u2019s efforts at the one position.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he can get to it over there, you\u2019re pretty much out,\u201d infielder\/outfielder Gavin Lux said. \u201cHe\u2019s saved us on multiple occasions on errors, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s out there working hard every day trying to get better at it, and it\u2019s just impressive to see how good he\u2019s gotten over there in a short amount of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps especially for a guy who wasn\u2019t sure about the full-time gig when he started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can honestly say I didn\u2019t love the position at first, but I\u2019m really starting to enjoy it,\u201d Steer said at midseason, adding he had to get used to trusting himself to handle the position without feeling \u201cattached\u201d to the base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more I played there, the more comfortable I got playing farther off the bag and more comfortable I got ranging to my right and trusting what balls I can get to and on what balls I can dart to first and have Matty cover the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Napoli: \u201cHe\u2019s playing the (expletive) out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what comes next for Steer defensively and the Reds competitively.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Steer is prepared for anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still see myself as a utility guy. I still feel I can plug in holes when need be,\u201d said Steer, who did that for eight starts in left field this season. \u201cI don\u2019t want to lose that part of my game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if they need a guy to man first base every day, then I\u2019m more than happy to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2013 The Cincinnati Reds need outfield help. They need more pitching.\u00a0 But the most intriguing position…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[1558,15056,2319,151025,65786,151030,151028,151027,38789,151029,62190,61431,151026,363,6377,8456,3,13470,13471,5573,1712,107104,38177,99,2415,107105,39874,98362],"class_list":["post-286803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-cincinnati","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-francona","tag-gavin","tag-gavin-lux","tag-hayes","tag-kebryan","tag-kebryan-hayes","tag-lux","tag-matt","tag-matt-mclain","tag-mclain","tag-mlb","tag-national","tag-national-sports","tag-news","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-positive","tag-reds","tag-spencer","tag-spencer-steer","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-steer","tag-terry","tag-terry-francona"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}