The Cincinnati Reds game on Saturday didn’t go as well as they would have liked, dropping the contest 13-7 to the Kansas City Royals. It was a rough day for the bullpen, which gave up 11 runs after Hunter Greene threw the first four innings. But a few of the minor league position players got into the game and took advantage of their playing time.
Alfredo Alcantara is just 19-years-old. He’s got two seasons under his belt after spending 2023 with the DSL Reds and then last season in Goodyear with the ACL Reds. In Saturday’s game he was on the travel roster, called up from minor league camp to help fill out the bench. He got plenty of playing time, too, after taking over at second base for Matt McLain. After grounding out in the bottom of the 6th inning in his first ever spring training at-bat, he came up to the plate in the next inning with runners on second and third and he lined a slider the other way into right field for a 2-run single.
Francisco Urbaez has been around a bit longer than Alcantara has. He signed out of college in 2020 when the draft was shortened to just five rounds. He’s also played in 17 spring training games spread out over the last four years. Saturday was his 6th game this spring and he had himself a solid day. In his first at-bat of the game he doubled to the wall in right-center. In his next plate appearance he drew a walk against his former teammate Ryan Hendrix (both were in Louisville in September of 2021).
Blake Dunn might be playing for a spot on the roster. If Spencer Steer is unable to begin the season on time then it looks like the final spot on the roster would go to another outfielder. Dunn is trying to make his case that it should go to him. In his first at-bat of the game he followed up the double by Urbaez with one almost to the exact same spot with a 105 MPH line drive to plate a run. He’s been hitting the ball hard this spring (nine of his 15 batted balls that have been tracked are 93+ MPH and four are 104+) and is now sitting with a .281/.324/.438 line through his 17 games played.
The Spring Breakout
Don’t forget that Sunday night is the Reds vs Brewers in the Spring Breakout series. The game is on the schedule for 7:40pm ET. You will be able to watch it on MLB Network or MLB.tv (where it will be free). Cincinnati released the roster for the game two weeks ago. You can see that here.