The Cincinnati Reds have called up shortstop Blake Trahan from Triple-A Louisville. This was their first move made with rosters now expanded. Trahan is not on the 40-man roster, so a move will need to be made to clear a spot for him. C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic was the first to confirm the news, but it looks like “Kinder Baseball” on twitter had it just before midnight last night.
This is a move that I didn’t write about yesterday, but should have now that I have hindsight. Blake Trahan has not hit well this season. He’s hitting .245/.327/.302 on the season in 129 games. It’s rare to see a .302 slugging percentage these days. What Trahan does bring to the table for the Reds is defense. At shortstop. The team has gone all season without a true backup shortstop who can play there every day. They had Alex Blandino as the backup until he was unfortunately injured, but he was more of a “fill-in” shortstop than a true shortstop. That’s what Trahan his, at least defensively – a true shortstop. Jose Peraza could probably use a rest here and there, and maybe he’ll now be able to get a few days off down the stretch.
Offensively, there’s not a lot to look for with Blake Trahan and get excited about. With that said, he has hit much better since the beginning of July. In the first 74 games of the season he hit .215/.321/.262 for Louisville. Since the start of July he’s hit .280/.335/.348 in 55 games. It’s been a big improvement from where he was at. The average is up, and thus so are the rest of the numbers. But he’s only walked 14 times in 230 trips to the plate in that span, and almost all of his hits have been singles. Don’t expect much power at all from the infielder. Hopefully the average can carry forward a little bit, though.
In a bench role, he’ll probably be used for defense at shortstop if and when needed. And while he doesn’t have a ton of steals, he’s got a little bit of speed. So he could also be used in pinch running roles if the team wants to go that route later in games.