The Cincinnati Reds have released outfielder Donald Lutz, clearing up a space on the 40-man roster for Ivan De Jesus.
Marlon Byrd to DL, call up Ivan DeJesus, release Donald Lutz #Reds
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) June 3, 2015
The move is interesting, as Lutz was on the minor league disabled list after having Tommy John surgery a month ago and will miss the rest of the season. Apparently the team can release a player in that situation as long as they agree to pay the full year salary due to the player as well as their medical care.
Lutz was in his fourth and final option season with the Reds. After this season he would have been unable to go to the minor leagues without clearing waivers first.
The organization always seemed to be high on the outfielder, but despite seeing time on the big league roster in two different seasons, he was never given a chance to play other than as a pinch hitter. His best opportunity would have seemed to have come in May of 2014 when he was called up after seven weeks split between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .337/.400/.654 at the two stops. With the team needing a first baseman and Lutz destroying the ball, it seemed to be the perfect scenario to insert him into the lineup and see what he could do. Instead he sat on the bench for five days before making an appearance and got just three starts in 18 days before being sent back to the minor leagues.
He had struggled with the big league club in his time spent in the Majors, though he was never given much of a chance at playing time. Between 2013 and 2014 Lutz hit .211/.239/.255 in 113 plate appearances.