Cincinnati Reds straight Santiago Espinal to Triple-A Louisville – Redleg Nation

The Cincinnati Reds are reducing the number of players on their 40-man roster this week. Ian Gibaut was sent outright to the minor leagues earlier this week and on Friday afternoon the club knocked infielder/utility man Santiago Espinal to Triple-A. As a player with more than five years of service, Espinal has the right to decline direct assignment to the minor leagues and can become a free agent. He could also choose to accept the assignment and remain with the Reds as a minor leaguer. His choice has not yet been announced.

Espinal was a 2022 All-Star while with the Toronto Blue Jays and joined the Cincinnati Reds near the end of spring training in March 2024. The Reds sent right-handed pitcher Chris McElvain to the Blue Jays in exchange for Espinal. That was right around the time that Cincinnati found out that Matt McLain’s shoulder injury was going to cost him a lot of time on the injured list and the team needed some depth to help cover the infield, because without McLain and with Noelvi Marte having to serve a suspension, the team was short on players capable of stepping up to the big leagues.

In his two seasons with the Reds, Santiago Espinal has certainly contributed in terms of defense. A high-quality fielder, he could fill in at first base, second base, shortstop, third base, left field and right field for Cincinnati. He played in 232 games with the team.

But as useful as he was in the field, he struggled in the batter’s box. Espinal had 719 plate appearances with the Reds over the past two seasons, hitting a combined .245/.294/.322. In the 2025 season, he stepped in 328 times and did not hit a single home run. That led to his slugging percentage dropping to .282. His OPS of .575 was the lowest by a Red with at least 300 plate appearances since Billy Hamilton’s .563 mark in 2015. His isolated power (SLG-AVG) of .040 was the lowest by a Reds hitter with at least 300 plate appearances since 1986, when Kurt Stillwell had a .029 mark.

This move will theoretically save Cincinnati a bit of money. After making $2,400,000 for the Reds in 2025, Espinal is projected to get $2,900,000 in arbitration for the 2026 season, according to MLB Trade Rumors projections.