Within that group, the distribution is fairly even between position players and pitchers. Five pitchers have received non-roster invitations to big league camp, while four position players are on the roster.
Right-handed pitchers Tejay Antone, Hagen Danner, Lyon Richardson and Carson Spires, along with left-handed pitcher Joel Valdez, all received invitations. On the position side, it’s catcher Will Banfield, infielder Michael Chavis and utility men Garrett Hampson and Michael Toglia who will arrive ahead of the rest of the minor league counterparts.
Eight of those nine players have some experience in the big league. Hagen Danner has recorded just one out and faced just one batter in his only time on the mound in a Major League Baseball game, but that still counts.
Left-handed pitcher Joel Valdez is the only player on the list who has never reached the big league. In the winter of 2024, the Reds took him in the minor league version of the Rule 5 draft and he broke out in 2025 with Double-A Chattanooga, appearing in 26 games with a 1.38 ERA while pitching 45.2 innings, giving up just one home run, walking 20 and striking out 55. He struggled in his 12.0 innings with Triple-A Louisville, as he allowed eight earned runs on 16 hits and five walks while hitting three batters and striking out 12.
This is unlikely to be the last of the non-selection invites the club will hand out. At this point, there are no minor league players not on the 40-man roster who have officially received a big league invite yet, aside from Joel Valdez, who, while a good prospect, isn’t among the team’s top 30 prospects. Expect some of Cincinnati’s prospects to start receiving invites soon, as it’s highly unlikely they won’t be handing out more invites in the coming weeks.
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