NL Central Transaction Sunday: 8/9

BREWERS

8/3/20: Optioned C Jacob Nottingham to the ATS. Activated LHP Brett Anderson from the 10-day IL. Recalled IF Ryon Healy and IF Mark Mathias from the ATS. Placed RHP Shelby Miller on the minor league restricted list. Added RHP Justin Topa and OF Hedbert Perez to the CPP, and assigned them to the ATS. CPP at 55.

The club wanted to fill the void created by Cain’s opt-out and Braun’s IL placement while also activating Anderson to start tonight’s game. To do that, they needed to remove one player from the active roster, and that was Nottingham. That was an understandable decision, as he was only called up as an emergency because backup catcher Manny Pina was slightly banged up and hasn’t played at all since his recall. The club clearly feels comfortable with platooning Omar Narvaez and Manny Pina.

More interesting is that the club decided not to promote either Corey Ray or Tyrone Taylor. Ray has no MLB experience, and Taylor only has 12 MLB plate appearances, but Mark Mathias has no MLB experience and the club does not need any more infielders. It is true that most of their “infielders” are really 1B/DH types. But third base has been an Eric Sogard/Jedd Gyorko platoon. Orlando Arcia and Keston Hiura have the shortstop and second base jobs locked up, respectively, and can be backed up by both Sogard and Brock Holt, who has been barely used. Healy has no defensive value at all, especially over Justin Smoak or Logan Morrison. With Ryan Braun out, Healy’s recall was almost certainly designed to plug him in as the DH against left-handed pitching.

Right now, the club only has 3 true outfielders on the roster. Yelich will play left field as usual. Although Ben Gamel started the first game without Cain in center field, Avisail Garcia will be the primary center fielder with Gamel in right. The only other player on the roster that has played outfield on either a consistent or recent basis is Brock Holt.

As for the new additions to the CPP, the Brewers signed Perez as an 16-year old undrafted free agent out of Venezuela in July of 2019. Now 17, Perez was originally set to play for the club’s Dominican Summer League entry this year and has no minor league stats. Topa is a 29-year old right-handed reliever that was drafted by the Pirates in the 17th round of the 2013 draft, but has never made it past the AA level. Although he pitched 25 games with 14 starts, he missed a considerable amount of the 2014 season with an injury. Topa then missed the entire 2015 season due to Tommy John surgery, the second Tommy John surgery in his life. Recovery from that surgery only allowed him to pitch 10 total games in 2016, and the Pirates organization released him in spring training of 2017. Although Topa threw hard, the organization was not incredibly high on him after he posted an ERA over 6 with a middling strikeout rate as a 23-year old in A ball in 2014. Topa then signed with the Rockland Boulders of the independent Canadian-American Association, a club that played out of Pomona, New York. After 1 season and 4 games of the 2018 season, the Texas Rangers signed Topa to a minor league deal. He reached the AA level, but was declared an automatic Rule 55 minor league free agent after the year, signing with the Brewers for 2019. The Brewers converted him to relief to take advantage of his upper 90s fastball, and he again reached the AA level after starting off in High-A. Topa was superb in High-A (29.2% K rate, 3.1% BB rate), but you would hope a 28-year old in High-A would be. In AA, he wasn’t bad, but his strikeout rate dropped to where it was in 2018 (around 20%).

8/6/20: Optioned RHP J.P. Feyereisen and IF Ryon Healy to the ATS.

It was not surprising that the Brewers would keep at least 15 pitchers on a 28-man roster. The Brewers have blurred the lines in recent years between starters and relievers and have at least 7 pitchers that they could consider as starters. A couple of their starters earlier in the season only pitched a few innings before being relieved. Having just been at 16 pitchers and 14 position players, the club had to trim one of each to get to its preferred total.

Feyereisen pitched the bottom of the 8th in a road game against the Cubs on the first day of the season with the Cubs down 2-0. He pitched 1 inning with 1 strikeout and gave up a solo homer to Anthony Rizzo. That was the only time manager Craig Counsell saw fit to bring him in to pitch through 9 ball games. Counsell hasn’t trusted Justin Grimm either since he pitched 1 inning in the club’s 3rd game and gave up a walk, a 2-run HR to Ian Happ and another solo HR to Rizzo. But Feyereisen can be optioned, and Grimm can’t.

Healy had come up to play against left-handed pitching in Ryan Braun’s absence. Counsell used him in all 3 games, twice at DH and once at 1B. Brought up to mash lefties, he got 6 trips to the plate, and only got 1 hit in his only plate appearance where Counsell allowed him to face a righty. The club still decided to option him, despite facing a left-hander again today. Having to trim a position player by today, the only other choice to option was Mark Mathias. Literally everyone else is a starter or part of a platoon, which Counsell is employing at 4 positions (C, 3B, SS and DH). The Brewers must have figured that they won’t face another left-hander until Ryan Braun can come off of the disabled list. For some reason, the club is also following the Cardinals’ patented technique of playing infielders in the outfield and screwed around with playing Mathias in the outfield the past 2 days, even though he has never played there. With Lorenzo Cain choosing not to play the rest of the year and Braun on the shelf, the club doesn’t have a real backup outfielder, so decided to give Mathias a spin. Mathias will almost certainly go down whenever Braun is healthy.

Whatever the Brewers do, they need offense, as almost no one is hitting. Shortstop Orlando Arcia, who has been platooned, is leading the regulars in batting. Most of the regulars are batting in the ones and low twos.

8/8/20: Added RHP Alec Bettinger to the Club Player Pool and assigned him to the ATS. CPP at 56.

Bettinger is a starter and was the club’s 10th round draft choice in 2017. He performed well at AA last year with a 3.13 FIP. Note that my total CPP count disagrees with the Brewers’ Twitter account, which has suggested the Brewers’ CPP is at 58. They must be including both LHP Angel Perdomo and IF Luis Urias as part of the total. I think that total is wrong because if those players had been activated from the COVID-19 Related IL, they would also have had to be added back to the 40-man roster, and the Brewers don’t have enough space for that. They have room on the 40-man for one player, not both.

28-MAN ROSTER

PITCHERS (15)

Starters (5): Brandon Woodruff, Brett Anderson (L), Adrian Houser, Josh Lindblom, Eric Lauer (L)

Relievers (10): Corbin Burnes, Alex Claudio (L), Justin Grimm, Josh Hader (L), Corey Knebel, Freddy Peralta, David Phelps, Brent Suter (L), Devin Williams, Eric Yardley

POSITION PLAYERS (13)

Catchers (2): Omar Narvaez (L), Manny Pina

Infielders (8): Orlando Arcia, Jedd Gyorko, Keston Hiura, Brock Holt (L), Mark Mathias, Logan Morrison (L), Justin Smoak (S), Eric Sogard (L)

Outfielders (3): Ben Gamel (L), Avisail Garcia, Christian Yelich (L)

CUBS

8/6/20: Optioned LHP Rex Brothers and LHP Justin Steele to the ATS. Signed RHP Kelvin Herrera to a minor league deal, added him to the CPP and assigned him to the ATS. CPP at 60.

The Cubs recalled Steele on August 2nd when James Norwood went on the injured list, but David Ross never brought him in to pitch. Brothers had only pitched in two games. In the first game on July 25th, he pitched 1 scoreless inning with a walk, 2 strikeouts and a balk. His July 29th appearance against the Reds didn’t go so well. Coming into the game with runners on 1st and 2nd with the club down 4-0, he promptly walked a man, gave up a grand slam, then allowed another solo homer. Overall, he had 3 walks and 5 strikeouts in 2.1 IP. Although the Cubs’ bullpen could use some help, it wasn’t altogether surprising that the club trimmed 2 pitchers to get down to 28 players. The Cubs need 3 catchers because manager David Ross uses Victor Caratini as a DH on a frequent basis, and the other position players have been given roles to fill. This move gives the Cubs only two left-handed pitchers on the active roster and only one in the pen.

Herrera was released by the Chicago White Sox after pitching 2 games this season and allowing 2 HR over 2.1 IP.

8/8/20: Released UT Derek Dietrich from his minor league deal. CPP at 59.

Dietrich apparently asked for his release so he could pursue a major league opportunity.

28-MAN ROSTER

PITCHERS (14)

Starters (5): Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish, Tyler Chatwood, Jon Lester (L), Alec Mills

Relievers (9): Jeremy Jeffress, Craig Kimbrel, Colin Rea, Kyle Ryan (L), Casey Sadler, Ryan Tepera, Duane Underwood, Jr., Rowan Wick, Dan Winkler

POSITION PLAYERS (14)

Catchers (3): Victor Caratini (S), Willson Contreras, Josh Phegley

Infielders (6): Javier Baez, David Bote, Kris Bryant, Nico Hoerner, Jason Kipnis (L), Anthony Rizzo (L)

Outfielders (5): Albert Almora, Jr., Ian Happ (S), Jason Heyward (L), Kyle Schwarber (L), Steven Souza, Jr.

PIRATES

8/3/20: Purchased the contract of RHP Yacksel Rios from the ATS. To make room on the 40-man roster, transferred RHP Michael Feliz from the 10-day IL to the 45-day IL. Active roster back at 30. 40-man roster full. CPP at 57.

With the DFA of LHP Robbie Erlin and the optioning of newly-acuired Tyler Bashlor, the Pirates played yesterday one man short. To restore the active roster to 30 players and 16 pitchers, the club added Rios back to the 40-man. Blake Cederlind is the only other pitcher on the 40-man roster, and he is not ready because he was slowed in camp by the virus. As for Rios, he’s the only pitcher the Pirates had available at the ATS with MLB bullpen experience. James Marvel started 4 games for the Pirates last season, but he only relieved once back in High-A ball. The Pirates claimed Rios on outright assignment waivers from the Phillies last August, and in 13 IP in the majors last year, Rios walked 8 and allowed 4 home runs. The Pirates outrighted Rios in June when they set their initial Club Player Pool, even though though they assigned him to the Club Player Pool anyway. The club must have anticipated at the time that they had NRIs from camp that would make the big club. Rios has 1 minor league option remaining.

8/5/20: Placed RHP Nick Burdi on the 45-day IL (right elbow injury). Activated SS JT Riddle from the 10-day IL. 40-man roster at 39. CPP at 56.

This is a huge bummer for the Bucs. Burdi was serving as the temporary closer and flashing triple digit heat. Burdi told the club that his elbow didn’t feel right after his appearance on Monday, August 3rd in Minnesota. The club doesn’t know exactly what is wrong with his elbow yet, other than that it is bad enough that he is out for the year. Just since last September, the club has lost closer Felipe Vazquez to sex offense charges, Enrique Saldana to a PED suspension, starter Chris Archer to thoracic outlet syndrome, Michael Feliz to a strained forearm and now Burdi. All of those pitchers are gone for the season, and in the case of Vazquez almost certainly forever. They’re also without planned closer Keone Kela to a COVID-19 diagnosis, and relievers Kyle Crick and Clay Holmes and starter Mitch Keller to assorted arm injuries.

Although Burdi was taken in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft in December 2017, because of injuries, he still has not spent 90 total days on an active roster. He only pitched 2 games in 2018 due to recovery from 2017 Tommy John surgery, and he was lost for 2019 after only 11 games due to thoracic outlet syndrome. He still had 34 days left on his Rule 5 restrictions going into this season, and only spent 13 days on the active roster this season before being sent to the injured list once again. This means that his Rule 5 restrictions will carry over to next season and beyond, until he spends 21 days on an active roster. Burdi’s is by far the strangest Rule 5 case I’ve ever seen.

Riddle is out of minor league options and had he not been non-tendered by the Marlins, he would have been eligible for arbitration as a Super Two. Riddle is probably the best shortstop defender the Pirates have. But Kevin Newman is the preferred starter, and the Pirates have been determined to get Cole Tucker’s bat into the lineup, even to the point of screwing around playing him in center field. It’s unclear how much Riddle will play. Now the Pirates are at a balance of 15 pitchers and 15 position players. No other pitchers at the ATS were deemed to be ready to relieve in a major league game.

8/6/20: After last night’s game, optioned UT Jose Osuna and OF Guillermo Heredia to the ATS.

The Pirates need all the pitching they can get. They have many injuries and have a few pitchers that would likely not be on the active roster at all under normal conditions. They can’t rely on all their relievers. JT Brubaker is moving into the rotation today to take the place of Mitch Keller, when he had been a reliever before. The club already has a firm piggyback tandem of Steven Brault and Chad Kuhl for another rotation slot, which takes another reliever out of flexible action. The club felt like it needed 15 pitchers and 13 position players, an alignment under which the team could survive with a 4-man bench.

That required removing 2 position players from the roster, and the choice boiled down to which players have options remaining that the club figures won’t play as much. The club only had 2 catchers to begin with. Osuna and Heredia were optioned due to the sudden emergence of Phillip Evans and Cole Tucker. In this short season, Evans has been playing a lot of the third base, moving Colin Moran, the club’s leader in home runs, to either first base or DH, which are two of the spots Osuna had played. Evans is leading the club in both batting average and on base percentage.

Gregory Polanco’s return from the COVID-19 Related IL limited Heredia’s playing time, especially after the club has decided it needs to get Cole Tucker’s bat into the lineup. Tucker played shortstop exclusively in his six-year minor league career, with the exception of 6 games at second base last season in AAA. He also played shortstop exclusively in the majors last year. Despite having no previous outfield experience, Tucker has started half of the clubs 12 games in the outfield somewhere this year, splitting the time between center field and right field. I don’t understand it at all. After going 0 for 3 last night, Tucker is batting .182 and has 1 walk in 24 plate appearances. He has 4 hits, which include 1 double and 1 home run. And he’s not better defensively than any of the infield or outfield options, certainly not better than Dyson in center or Polanco in right. The Pirates’ offense has been atrocious, with only 2 regulars (Evans and Moran) even hitting .200 so far. But Tucker is hardly the answer, and if he was, you’d think the club would put Tucker at short, move Kevin Newman to 2nd base and put Adam Frazier in the outfield. Frazier has real MLB experience out there.

Infielder Erik Gonzalez could have been a candidate for removal, but he is out of options, and so is JT Riddle. Heredia and Osuna both have options. With the other starters set in stone and the club determined to play Tucker, the Pirates will be looking at a bench most days of John Ryan Murphy, Tucker, Gonzalez and Riddle. Tucker, a shortstop with no career starts in the outfield before this year, and Riddle, a shortstop with 22 career starts in center field, are the club’s backup outfielders.

8/7/20: Noted the loss of LHP Robbie Erlin to the Atlanta Braves on an outright assignment waiver claim. Added LHP Brandon Waddell to the CPP and assigned him to the ATS. CPP at 57.

Waddell was the club’s 5th round draft choice in 2015. He had been mostly a starter in his career. At first, AAA Indianapolis used him out of the bullpen in his second spin with the club last year, but they moved him back into the rotation in mid-June. Last season, he increased his strikeout rate, but both his walk rate and home run rate rose.

8/8/20: Optioned LHP Miguel Del Pozo to the ATS. Purchased the contract of RHP Nick Mears from the ATS. 40-man roster full.

The club had room for Mears on the 40-man because they just put Nick Burdi on the 45-day IL. Del Pozo had control problems, walking 8 batters in just 5 games and 3.2 IP. He has given up a hit or a walk to 15 out of the 25 batters he faced. In the game on August 3rd, Shelton brought Del Pozo in with a man on 2nd and the Pirates clinging to a 4-3 lead. Del Pozo walked 2 men to load the bases, threw a wild pitch to allow the tying run to score, then walked another man. In yesterday’s game on August 7th, Del Pozo came into the game with the bases loaded, nobody out and the Pirates ahead 7-6. He gave up 3 straight singles to give the White Sox a 10-7 lead. After getting 2 outs, he gave up a 2-run double to extend the White Sox lead to 12-7. In all, he allowed 5 hits in 2 IP that day. Part of this could be just that the Pirates played 11 innings yesterday, used 8 pitchers and need another fresh arm.

Mears signed with the Pirates as an undrafted free agent in August 2018 out of the Northwoods Collegiate Summer League. He’s pitched only in relief, has only 37 games of minor league experience, and rocketed through 3 levels last year, pitching only 3 games at the AA level. He’s a strikeout machine, never striking out less than 30.4% of batters faced at any stop. In his most extensive action with High-A Bradenton, he struck out 35% of the batters he faced, while walking only 7.3%.

The Pirates’ had 2 other 40-man roster pitcher at the ATS. Tyler Bashlor, who was just acquired from the Mets, has not been deemed to be game ready. The other is Blake Cederlind, and he was not only slowed by a COVID diagnosis earlier in camp, but he has been said to be behind Bashlor in terms of game readiness.

8/9/20: Placed 3B Phillip Evans on the 45-day IL (concussion and fractured jaw). Optioned RHP Nick Mears to the ATS. Recalled UT Jose Osuna from the ATS. Purchased the contract of LHP Brandon Waddell from the ATS. 40-man roster full. CPP at 57.

Evans’s loss is yet another big blow to the Pirates, as he had been one of their best offensive players so far. In the top of the 6th inning in yesterday’s game against the Tigers, Miguel Cabrera hit a foul ball towards the sidewall pass first base. Evans, who was making his first ever MLB start at the 1st base position, raced out towards the ball, and Gregory Polanco rushed in from his right field position. Neither man appeared to call for it, and as Polanco caught the ball with his right glove hand, his right elbow slammed Evans in the side of the face. Both players were shaken up, but Evans got the worst of it and lost consciousness for a bit. He was carried off on a stretcher and has now been diagnosed with a consussion and a broken jaw, and is now out for the season. Osuna, who was just recently optioned so that the club could get down to 28 players, plays the positions that Evans has played, and can also play the outfield.

Starter Derek Holland gave up 4 home runs in his first 11 pitches yesterday, and just had to stay in there to give the club innings. Mears made his major league debut yesterday in the 6th inning with a man on 2nd base and the club trailing 8-5. He threw the pitch that Cabrera hit into foul territory, which led to Evans’s injury. In that commotion, that inherited runner scored all the way from 2nd base on a Sac Fly. He allowed 3 walks and a single, but struck out two. That last walk was with the bases loaded, which allowed another run to score.

Although Mears didn’t pitch well, his option was not necessarily a demotion. The Pirates are desperate for innings. The club used 8 relievers two days ago, and today they are starting Steven Brault because Joe Musgrove is being scratched from his scheduled start due to right ankle soreness. He hasn’t pitched more than 3 innings at a time in any of his outings, and the club is going to need pitchers who are stretched out. At the time this move was made, the Pirates did not know that their 3-game series with the Cardinals would be postponed and the club would get 3 days off.

Waddell has been a starter mostly in his career since being drafted by the Pirates in the 5th round of the 2015 draft. Last season, the 26-year old posted the worst walk rate and home run rate of his career, but increased his strikeout rate by 6% over his prior AAA campaign.

28-MAN ROSTER

PITCHERS (15)

Starters (6): Joe Musgrove, Trevor Williams, JT Brubaker, Steven Brault (L)/Chad Kuhl, Derek Holland (L)

Relievers (9): Geoff Hartlieb, Sam Howard (L), Dovydas Neverauskas, Cody Ponce, Yacksel Rios, Richard Rodriguez, Chris Stratton, Nik Turley (L), Brandon Waddell (L)

POSITION PLAYERS (13)

Catchers (2): John Ryan Murphy, Jacob Stallings

Infielders (8): Josh Bell (S), Adam Frazier (L), Erik Gonzalez, Colin Moran (L), Kevin Newman, Jose Osuna, JT Riddle (L), Cole Tucker (S)

Outfielders (3): Jarrod Dyson (L), Gregory Polanco (L), Bryan Reynolds (S)

REDS

8/3/20: Optioned OF Aristides Aquino to the ATS. Activated 1B Joey Votto from the COVID-19 Related IL. 40-man roster full. CPP at 55.

Votto never did test positive, and had the required two negative tests 24 hours apart, so he was only gone for one day. To stay at 14 pitchers, the club had to do something with another position player. Other than Aquino, the only position players that have minor league options remaining are Kyle Farmer, Nick Senzel, Josh VanMeter and Jesse Winker. Senzel is the starting center fielder and Jesse Winker has been the long side of a platoon at DH. The club will have some tough decisions on August 6th if the rosters are required to be reduced to 28. Aquino had not been needed as much as Farmer and VanMeter because Moustakas was on the COVID-IL and both Farmer and VanMeter are backup infielders.

8/6/20: Designated LHP Brooks Raley for assignment. Optioned RHP Tejay Antone and IF Josh VanMeter to the ATS. Recalled RHP Jose De Leon from the ATS. 40-man roster at 39. CPP at 54.

You can view the optioning of Antone as just a swap for De Leon for innings. Antone made his major league debut on July 27th by throwing 4.1 IP of relief and allowing 1 homer, 1 walk and hitting one man, but striking out 5. He had to make a spot start on August 5th because of an earlier doubleheader. He went another 4.1 IP, and walked 4, but allowed only 1 earned run. He was not going to be available for several days, and the Reds needed another reliever. De Leon has prior MLB experience with the Dodgers and Rays, has been mostly a starter in his career, and figures to be available for long relief.

VanMeter was optioned because basically the club had no other players they could send down without the risk of losing them. Nick Senzel is the starting center fielder and Jesse Winker has been the DH on most days. The only other position player that had an option was Kyle Farmer, and he’s the backup shortstop, in addition to being a 3rd catcher.

Similarly, only two relievers have options available. One is Raisel Iglesias, but he’s the club’s closer. One can argue that Michael Lorenzen deserved the demotion, because he allowed 3 home runs (all 2-run shots) in the first 3 of his 5 total appearances. He also came into the game on August 5th with a man on 1st, 1 out and the score tied 0-0, but couldn’t hold the tie. The club might be so enamored with his athleticism that they decided not to option him.

Raley only pitched poorly in one of his 4 games with the club, but that one was bad. He came into the July 29th game against the Cubs in the 7th inning with runners at the corners and 2 out. He walked a guy to load the bases, hit a guy, then gave up a 2-run single, 2-run double, and walked another man. In his other appearances, he did okay. The Reds, however, have 2 pitchers that might come off of the injured list soon, and the club might feel that they are better options, so they might as well go down to 13 pitchers to get to 28 players.

8/7/20: Traded a player to be named later to the Oakland Athletics for OF Mark Payton. Added LHP Brandon Finnegan, IF Rece Hinds and OF TJ Friedl to the CPP and assigned them to the ATS.

The Reds took Payton in the most recent Rule 5 draft from the Athletics but returned him on July 21st to clear 40-man roster space. I’m not sure if they made this move as a precautionary measure, in case Nick Senzel, who had to leave today’s game with a groin injury, has to go on the injured list. In either case, Payton was outrighted to the Oakland Athletics’ AAA club reserve list upon his return from Rule 5 status, so the Reds do not have to add him to the 40-man at this time. They do have a spot available if they need him, though. He has not reported to the club yet, and the Reds have announced their club CPP total at 57, so it is possible that he has not been formally assigned to the CPP yet.

Finnegan started 31 games for the Reds in 2016, was slowed by a shoulder injury 2017 and only made 5 starts across 2017 and 2018 before being outrighted to AAA to start the 2019 season. Hinds was the club’s 2nd round draft choice in 2019, but for some reason only played 3 games in Rookie Ball. Friedl signed with the Reds as an undrafted free agent in August of 2016 and has had two spins in AA.

8/8/20: Optioned RHP Jose De Leon to the ATS. Recalled RHP Joel Kuhnel from the ATS.

That did not work out too well for De Leon. He came into the game in the bottom of the 6th, with the club behind 3-0. He got through that inning in order with 2 strikeouts. In the next inning, however, he gave up 2 singles, and after an intentional walk was ordered after a force play at home, De Leon walked 3 guys with the bases loaded. He also gave up 2 other singles that allowed 2 more runs to score.

Kuhnel is the only 40-man roster the Reds had left at the ATS with prior MLB experience, having pitched 11 games with the club out of the bullpen last year. Ryan Hendrix only has 16 games pitched at the AA level. Tony Santillan has been a starter only and has never pitched in AAA. But the club may be looking at one of those guys pretty soon, as Pedro Strop had to leave the same game as Nick Senzel, also with a groin injury, and his injury looks like it is much worse.

8/9/20: Placed 2B Mike Moustakas on the 10-day IL, retroactive to August 6th (left quad bruise). Recalled RHP Tejay Antone from the ATS.

Moustakas has been bothered by this since Monday, August 3rd, and hadn’t played since the 4th. Before Josh VanMeter was optioned, he played the position against right-handed pitching, and for the past several days, the club has been alternating Kyle Farmer and Christian Colon, both right-handed batters, at the position.

The club could have recalled either Alex Blandino or Robel Garcia for infield insurance, but it looks like they have plenty of infield options already and they decided to recall Antone to give them innings and restore the 14/14 balance to pitchers and position players.

28-MAN ROSTER

PITCHERS (14)

Starters (5): Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, Trevor Bauer, Anthony DeSclafani, Tyler Mahle

Relievers (9): Tejay Antone, Amir Garrett (L), Raisel Iglesias, Nate Jones, Joel Kuhnel, Michael Lorenzen, Cody Reed (L), Lucas Sims, Pedro Strop

POSITION PLAYERS (14)

Catchers (2): Tucker Barnhart (L), Curt Casali

Infielders (6): Christian Colon, Matt Davidson, Kyle Farmer, Freddy Galvis (S), Eugenio Suarez, Joey Votto (L)

Outfielders (6): Shogo Akiyama (L), Nick Castellanos, Phillip Ervin, Travis Jankowski, Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker (L)