This is a Spencer Steer story, really.
Steer, Cincinnati’s most recent 1B, is now a guy who’s slated to play defense all over the place in 2026. In many ways, he’s expected to be one part his former self and another part what Gavin Lux was last year, albeit with (hopefully) improved defense throughout the entire process.
Steer’s going to get a little time at 1B on days when Sal Stewart either needs a break (or is sliding over to 2B or 3B for the day). Steer’s going to get a little time at 2B, potentially,
on days when Matt McLain slides over to SS to give Elly De La Cruz a break. Steer is absolutely going to get time in LF routinely, and he’s even begun getting reps in RF this spring, too.
He’s going to get to 550+ PA one way or another, that Steer. How the Reds choose to round out their 26-man roster, though, depends precisely on which spot he’ll be playing most often to get there.
For the first time in seemingly forever, the Cincinnati Reds do appear set to have a pair of final bench bats on their roster who are actually/potentially legitimate big league hitters. This is not a case where we’re hashing it out between the likes of Santiago Espinal, Nick Martini, or Kevin Newman. Jason Vosler is not going to start a handful of April games on this revamped Cincinnati roster.
(This is also assuming Dane Myers isn’t a complete pumpkin, but I digress.)
This time around, the Reds have seemingly stacked their options with bat-first guys in an attempt to help bolster an overall offense that was sluggish, at best, through their 2025 season. And as we enter the final week of Cactus League action, the battle for those final spots on the Opening Day roster has been one where all relevant parties have been living up to their billings.
Here’s a breakdown of the top candidates for the roles, with the likelihood being that just two of these names end up in the dugout come Opening Day:
JJ Bleday
JJ Bleday has the sheen of a free agent signing with actual guaranteed money going his way. He’s a former 1st round pick and top overall prospect as well as a guy with a 20 homer season at the big league level already under his belt. His 2025 season was rough across the board, though he still managed a 92 OPS+ in 344 PA with the Athleics in his ‘down’ year. This spring, he’s hit .294/.351/.529 with a pair of dingers, but more importantly has received pretty glowing evaluation on the contact he’s been making and the diligence with which he’s been trying to tap back into his former successes.
Bleday is a left-handed hitter who can play both outfield corners (and CF in mediocre fashion in a pinch). He’s almost certainly a platoon bat at this point, but putting him in LF against RHP looks like a credible decision at this point in time. The question is, though, whether putting Steer in LF against RHP is a better idea on most days, in which case Bleday – who has one option remaining – isn’t even a starting option in his best-case scenario.
Will Benson
Benson has the sheen of a guy who’s a known quantity to both the manager and the roster, a guy who’s spent three seasons with the Reds (and even more with manager Terry Francona, as both were in Cleveland together for years before Benson became a Red). He’s had his ups, like in 2023 (.275/.365/.498 in 329 PA), his downs (.187/.274/.376 in 388 PA in 2024), and his almosts (.226/.273/.435 in 253 PA in 2025, albeit with elite batted ball data and a brutally unlucky .255 BABIP).
Benson, who also has an option remaining, does a lot of the same things that Bleday does. Benson does have a lot more success on his ledger as a baserunner, however, and would likely profile as the team’s go-to pinch runner whenever that need arose. He’s also mashed in camp this spring (.276/.432/.724 with 4 HR and more walks than Ks), and it’s really hard to imagine him not being on the active roster from the outset.
Nathaniel Lowe
If the Reds chose to carry both Benson and Bleday, that would push Steer into more of the mix on the infield, mixing in at 1B more often and cutting into Sal Stewart’s time at the position. If the Reds opted to carry Nate Lowe, though, instead of one of Benson or Bleday, Steer would have a more regular role in a corner outfield spot (especially if Noelvi Marte has continued struggles in RF).
Lowe, to his credit, has come into camp and hit. He’s posted a .241/.353/.517 line with a pair of homers, that on the heels of hitting .280/.370/.420 in 119 PA with the Boston Red Sox during the second half of a 2025 season that saw him flop with the Washington Nationals in his first stint with the club. He’s a guy who posted a 122 OPS+ across four seasons with the Texas Rangers from 2021-2024, a guy who won a Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, and World Series in those stops.
He’s only 30, but he’s also in camp as a non-roster guy, so adding him would require lopping someone else off the 40-man roster, too. Still, he’s by far and away the most proven bat among this group, and he’s an vastly experienced 1B on a team that projects to have Stewart – who’s barely played 1B – be the other go-to guy at the position.
Rece Hinds
Hinds was the best player on the planet for a week in 2024, and won NL Player of the Week for his efforts. He also tanked terribly once optioned back to AAA that year, and he floundered (.116/.136/.279 in 44 PA) when called back to the big leagues in 2025. However, his prodigious power has been on display again this spring (.364/.417/.788 with 3 HR), and that’s after he destroyed AAA pitching last year for Louisville in his age-24 year (.302/.359/.563 with 24 HR and 21 SB in 435 PA).
He’s a right-handed hitter, albeit one who didn’t hit LHP (.769 OPS at AAA) better than RHP (.914 OPS at AAA) last year. So, he’s not the perfect complement to any of Benson, Bleday, or Lowe, at least on paper. He’s also been streaky to the point where you wonder how well he’d do with limited playing time, which isn’t the best attribute when looking for a ‘bench’ bat.
His upside/ceiling, though, is probably the highest among this group, however, and to pass over him if he’s finally figured it out would be a tough pill to swallow.
