It became less of an issue when the Cincinnati Reds faded out of the playoff race in September and the St. Louis Cardinals won 17 consecutive games, but the lack of depth at certain positions was highlighted in the final weeks of the season.
Jesse Winker, Tyler Naquin and Shogo Akiyama were sidelined in the outfield. Mike Moustakas and Nick Senzel were out. Wade Miley went on the injured list with a neck injury. Rookie starter Vladimir Gutierrez seemingly hit a wall after crossing 120 innings, which followed a season where he threw zero innings.
Since the beginning of the offseason, the lack of depth has been magnified after the Reds placed Miley on waivers, traded Tucker Barnhart, saw Nick Castellanos opt out of his contract and lost relievers Michael Lorenzen and Mychal Givens to free agency.
“It was tough because this year we got the trade deadline and bullpen was our biggest need,” Reds General Manager Nick Krall said at the GM Meetings in November. “We filled those needs and then once we got to August, Winker got hurt, Naquin got hurt, Castellanos was hurt for a portion into August. We ran out of depth and when you lose middle-of-the-order bats like that, that’s really hard to replace whether it’s at the trade deadline or from your own system. That’s where we were. We just didn’t have enough depth to combat where we were at the end of the season.”
The Reds don’t have many glaring positional holes on their roster, but they don’t have much depth to combat injuries. It’s a reason why the Reds are weighing potential trades, particularly with their top pitchers, because if the team isn’t built to win in 2022, then work needs to be done to build a contender for future seasons.
An example of the depth issue: The current projected rotation includes Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle, Gutierrez and one open slot. Reiver Sanmartin, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are three of the top internal options. On paper, the Reds have a 1-2-3 punch that can match most teams.
The Reds, however, didn’t have two of their five starters available at the end of spring training last season. Gray missed the first two weeks of the season because of a back strain. Lorenzen was sidelined for three months with a shoulder strain and returned in a relief role.
It’s one thing to hope one of the Reds’ prospects pushes his way to the Majors and has success as a rookie, but it’s another when the Reds are relying on a few of them to have a successful season.
The projected starting outfield, at this point, includes Jesse Winker in left field, Nick Senzel in center and Tyler Naquin in right field, but all three players have dealt with various injuries in past years. Senzel could’ve helped solve some of the Reds’ issues last season, including their struggles against left-handed pitching as a right-handed hitter, but the Reds didn’t think he looked ready to return from his knee injury after completing his rehab assignment last August.
Behind the starting outfielders are Aristides Aquino, Akiyama and TJ Friedl. The Reds don't have any highlyoutfield prospects on the verge of the Majors.
The bullpen will be without Tejay Antone for the entire 2022 season after he underwent Tommy John surgery and it’s an area that should see additions whenever the lockout ends.
As the Reds weigh their options for the remainder of the offseason, depth is an issue that could factor into the front office’s direction.
HITTING COORDINATOR: The Reds hired Jim Rickon as one of their minor-league hitting coordinators, a longtime coach on the Cleveland Guardians’ player development staff.
Rickon spent the last 23 years with the Guardians, including three as their hitting coordinator (2015-17) and the last four years as a pro scout (2018-21). He began as a hitting coach with Cleveland in 2002.
The Reds restructured their hitting development in the organization. Major League assistant hitting coach Joe Mather, who also served as the director of hitting, took a job as the Arizona Diamondbacks’ lead hitting coach. C.J. Gillman was the minor league hitting coordinator last year, but he wasn’t retained at the end of the season. Gillman is now the hitting coordinator for the Seattle Mariners.
Joel McKeithan was hired as the Reds’ assistant hitting coach in November and he holds an “offensive coordinator” title where he will oversee the Reds’ hitting philosophies throughout the organization. The Reds are expected to hire two minor league hitting coordinators to match the structure on the pitching side.
STAFF CHANGES: Ricky Gutierrez, who managed at the Reds’ Double-A affiliate in Chattanooga last year, joined the Washington Nationals as a special assistant in international operations and player development.
Gutierrez spent the last five years on the Reds’ minor league coaching staff. He managed at High-A Daytona in 2018 and ’19.
Justin Bucko, who was the strength and conditioning coach at Triple-A Louisville last season, was hired as the assistant strength coach on the Baltimore Orioles’ Major League staff. Bucko was with the Reds for five years, working at the alternate site in Mason, Ohio, during the 2020 season.
The Philadelphia Phillies announced last month they hired Jason Camilli as their Major League assistant hitting coach. Camilli was a development coach for the Reds’ rookie-level complex team last season, his lone year in the organization after he spent nine years on the Arizona Diamondbacks’ player development staff.
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