Donald Lutz has spent parts of the last two seasons riding the Cincinnati Reds bench as an injury fill in. He’s managed 113 plate appearances over the two seasons and has struggled, hitting just .211/.239/.284 with four walks and 33 strikeouts.
The results haven’t been good. In fact, they’ve been quite bad. At the same time it must be noted that despite making it into 62 games he’s never had starts on back-to-back days in the big leagues and only three times has he had two starts in a three day stretch. Two years in the big leagues and he’s never had three starts in a weeks time or even four in a given month.
Lutz has used up all three of his options and will need to remain on the Reds 25-man roster. The team can certainly use an outfielder with some pop in his bat on the bench. He’s hit right handed pitching much better in his career than left handed pitching, so using him in a platoon role of some kind, perhaps with Marlon Byrd in left and at first every now and again to give Joey Votto a day off would be one way to work him into the lineup more than just as a pinch hitter or once a week starter.
The outfield is packed though and Lutz will be in a battle for a spot on the bench. Jay Bruce, Billy Hamilton and Marlon Byrd are locks for the 25-man roster as long as they are healthy. I’d think the same can be said for Skip Schumaker. That leaves one spot open on the bench for an outfielder. With Kristopher Negron having the ability to play center but also all around the infield there’s always a chance the Reds could go with an additional bullpen arm or even infielder over a true fifth outfielder if Negron makes the team.
Jason Bourgeois is also out of options and will be fighting for that final outfield spot on the roster. He brings a very different game than Lutz does. Bourgeois is a defensive player first, one who can cover center field. He brings plenty of speed and can steal bases. Unlike Lutz there’s not much power to his game, but he’s a high contact hitter.
It’s very likely that one of Lutz or Bourgeois is going to be on the outside looking in on the 25-man roster when April rolls around and with both players being out of options it is going to be rather important to have a strong spring and claim the spot.