Louisville Bats infielder Josh Satin has a decision to make today. In his contract he has an opt-out clause for today where the Cincinnati Reds have to either add him to their 25-man roster or tell all the teams in baseball that he’s available to be added to their 25-man roster. If more than one team is willing to add Satin to their 25-man roster, the Reds are given the right to decide which team he goes to.
He’s spent part of four years in the big leagues, though only one of those seasons saw him get more than 43 plate appearances. That was in 2013 when he hit .279/.376/.405 in 221 plate appearances.
With the Bats, Satin made two different trips to the disabled list in the first five weeks of the season. In the 17 games that he did play in April and May he hit just .214. He would walk eight times and strikeout just nine times, but he was struggling to find the hits in limited action with the injuries.
Since he returned at the start of June he has rebounded very well. Over 157 plate appearances in the last six weeks the corner infielder has hit .285/.394/.400 with 21 walks and 23 strikeouts.
With past big league time, a seemingly good approach to the plate that could translate to coming off of the bench as a pinch hitter and the ability to play two or three positions (The Reds have also played him in left field three times this season to go along with his time at first and third base).
I could see this playing out in two ways and neither would surprise me. A team looking for a solid bench bat could take a chance on Satin’s high on-base percentage and past big league performance and think he could be a fit. I don’t think it will be the Reds though. I could also see teams passing on the 30-year-old and Satin remaining with the organization.