The additions made by the Cincinnati Reds at the July 31st trade deadline have been known for two days now. How the Reds roster would take shape, though still remains a bit of a mystery - even though it became a tad bit clearer on Saturday.
MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed that the Reds have officially added both Miguel Andujar and Zack Littel to the roster, finally. Given that the Reds were one of the very few teams actually playing on Thursday’s deadline day (and then had the earliest game on the schedule
on Friday), it was physically tough for those two late additions to actually get to Cincinnati - let alone to Bristol, Tennessee for today’s Speedway Classic.
TJ Friedl also rejoined the roster given that the Reds are allowed to carry a 27th player on the active roster for today’s showcase. Connor Joe and Lyon Richardson were optioned to AAA to make room for Andujar and Littel for the time being.
Reds roster moves: IF/OF Miguel Andujar and RHP Zack Littell reported and are on the active roster; reinstated OF TJ Friedl from the restricted list and appointed him as the additional player for today’s game; IF/OF Connor Joe and RHP Lyon Richardson optioned to Louisville
— Mark Sheldon (@msheldon.bsky.social) 2025-08-02T17:12:53.467Z
None of that is surprising. What remains to be seen, though, is what the Reds choose to do after today’s game when their active roster must shrink back to 26.
The preponderance of left-handed hitting guys who either play the same position (or have no position at all) has become a bit of a logjam.
Friedl, obviously, isn’t going anywhere, but the trio of Jake Fraley, Will Benson, and Gavin Lux sure look like three players for two roster spots. That is, of course, unless the Reds were finally willing to move on from the light-hitting Santiago Espinal given that Matt McLain could, in theory, serve as the backup shortstop to Elly De La Cruz with Lux as a depth option at 2B.
Fraley, Lux, and Espinal are out of options. Benson, however, has options remaining, and it’s likely that he’ll get squeezed out to AAA so that the Reds can keep all their guys at least on the 40-man roster mix, with Benson the guy they’d call up if (and when) someone else gets injured. That’s frustrating given his clear ability to cover CF (and hit a homer off a LHP as recently as yesterday), but it’s likely that’s what we’ll see for now.
Keep in mind that Fraley, who has a lengthy injury history, is playing with a torn labrum in his shoulder that already featured a cortisone shot (and IL stint) this summer.
As for the pitching side of things, Nick Martinez appears destined to take on a swingman role with Littel getting a start every fifth day - for now. Chase Burns, who starts today, is going to slam into his innings limit at some point (and may well end up a lethal bullpen option down the stretch), and Hunter Greene is due back in another week or so. Littel does have extensive experience pitching out of the bullpen, too, and may well end up doing so as a depth piece down the stretch.
More from redreporter.com:
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- An early look at the Reds 2017 schedule
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- Joey Votto homered to back a great Dan Straily start, Reds beat Brewers, 6-4
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