Cincinnati Reds claim OF Tyler Holt off waivers

The Cincinnati Reds have picked up outfielder Tyler Holt off of waivers. The 26-year-old Holt had spent the season with the Cleveland Indians, spending most of the year with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. In the last two seasons he has spent a small amount of time with the Indians at the big league level as well.

In the minor leagues he’s been able to make a lot of contact and draw nearly as many walks as strikeouts. At the big league level though, things haven’t gone nearly as smooth. In just under 100 plate appearances he has walked just four times and struck out 34 times.

In his limited big league action he’s chased the ball out of the zone just over 30% of the time. In the zone, for a guy who’s made a lot of contact as a minor leaguer, he’s struggled on getting the bat on strikes, making contact on just 82.5% of the balls in the zone.

There’s no power in his game at all, owning a career .351 slugging percentage in the minor leagues. He’s a contact oriented hitter, who’s struggled to make contact in the big leagues in limited action over the last two seasons.

Defensively he’s roamed around the outfield over the last few seasons, but he’s spent a majority of his time in center field. He was named the best defensive outfielder in the Cleveland system two years in a row by Baseball America in 2011 and 2012.

From a pure statistical standpoint, Holt looks similar to current Reds outfielder Jason Bourgeois. The skillets seem similar: Contact oriented hitters without any power, has some speed and can play center field.

Here are his stats from the last two seasons.