The Cincinnati Reds made a series of noteworthy transactions on Wednesday morning following their dramatic come-from-behind victory over the Miami Marlins. As C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic relayed, the most immediately important of those moves was placing catcher Jose Trevino on the 10-day IL with a thoracic spine strain.
With only two catchers on the 40-man roster, that meant they’d need to add a non-roster catcher, and that comes in the form of PJ Higgins. The 32 year old is a former 12th round draftee by the Chicago Cubs out of Old Dominion University and has logged 254 PA at the big league level in his career, to date, with 229 of those coming during the 2022 season with the Cubs.
He hit a respectable .229/.310/.383 that year with 6 homers. So far in AAA this season he’s just 1 for 12, though he does have 6 walks against 3 strikeouts in that time. He’ll obviously cede almost all playing time to Tyler Stephenson, but as veteran catching depth goes the Reds could certainly do much worse.
To get Higgins onto the 40-man roster, though, meant the Reds needed to free up a roster spot. That surprisingly came by designated former Opening Day 1B Christian Encarnacion-Strand for assignment.
CES looked the part of found gold during the 2023 season after coming over from the Minnesota Twins in the deal that sent Tyler Mahle the other way in 2022. He hit .270/.328/.477 with 13 homers in just 63 games with the Reds, doing his best to make Joey Votto’s retirement a distant memory at 1B. Since then, though, he’s hit a miserable .199/.227/.337 in 260 PA at the big league level across two seasons and failed to make the Reds Opening Day roster at all in 2026.
He’s fallen behind each of Sal Stewart, Nate Lowe, Spencer Steer, and presumably Eugenio Suarez on the 1B depth chart. Though he’s got experience at 3B, he’s behind Ke’Bryan Hayes, Geno, Sal, and likely even Steer on that depth chart, too. As right-handed bench bat depth goes, Rece Hinds has rocketed past him and Blake Dunn offers much more all-around game. And if you look at the 1B position for a longer-term than just 2026, Cam Collier is knocking on the AAA door.
That’s the kind of roster squeeze that makes it truly difficult to continue to carry CES despite his offense, when right, being still a potential plus tool to have within the minor league ranks.
So far in 2026, CES has gone 8 for 36 with a pair of homers, a triple, and a double down at Louisville, slashing .222/.275/.472 with 2 walks and 14 strikeouts through 10 games. Still, I’d be quite surprised if he’s not claimed on waivers by a team that can offer him a more clear path to playing time since there’s a lot there to like, and that would mark the end of his time with the Reds organization.
(The Colorado Rockies will be all over this.)
