The Reds are turning to another infield-to-outfield experiment Wednesday night, with Juan Brito set to start in right field against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Brito is a career middle infielder in his brief MLB run, but he does have a little outfield work on his résumé. Most of it came with the Cleveland Guardians organization, where he played 19 games in right field in 2024.
He also logged one game there in 2025 for the Guardians’ rookie ball team. In all, he has 161 career innings in the outfield and a 94 fielding percentage.
For Cincinnati, this is part of a familiar pattern. The club has leaned on players who aren’t natural outfielders to cover spots in the grass, rather than bringing in players who are established at the position. Brito has been productive since the Reds called him up after acquiring him at the trade deadline, but the move still carries obvious risk.
Noelvi Marte has been the biggest name used in this way. He has shown flashes, but he still hasn’t fully settled in as an outfielder, and his bat has been up and down as well. The Reds recently sent Marte back to AAA for the second time this season.
Earlier this summer, Cincinnati also gave Matt McLain a shot in center field, pointing to his experience at UCLA and in the Arizona Fall League. That trial was short-lived. McLain played just 15 innings in center across three games before the Reds moved him back to second base, where he has been making plays all season.
With the Reds mathematically eliminated from contention, there’s no pressure attached to Wednesday’s decision. But the broader issue remains the same: if the team wants a real fix, it eventually has to stop improvising and start putting actual outfielders in the outfield.
In Other News...
Sal Stewart Just Got A New Rookie Of The Year Threat
The National League Rookie of the Year picture got a lot more interesting this week with the Cardinals activating second baseman JJ Wetherholt from the injured list, putting him back into the race just as the season is heading into its final stretch. For the Reds, that matters because Sal Stewart has been right there among the leagues most talked-about first-year players, and the award conversation now looks like a crowded one with about a week and a half left in the regular season.
Stewart is part of a group that also includes the Mets Nolan McLean and Carson Benge, while Wetherholt brings a different case back into the mix after his time on the shelf. The debate around the race has not just been about who has the biggest traditional numbers, but also who looks strongest in metrics such as WAR, and that split is what makes the closing weeks so intriguing for Cincinnati as Stewart tries to hold off a late push from another top candidate. [Read more 🡒]
Elly De La Cruz Just Delivered Another Dodgers Moment Reds Fans Loved
Elly De La Cruz keeps finding new ways to make a game against the Dodgers feel like a Reds showcase. In the latest chapter, he turned in a 5-3-6 double play that had the kind of snap and creativity that can change an inning in a hurry, catching a throw behind him while still moving and then tagging a sliding baserunner just before the bag. For a Cincinnati club that has seen De La Cruz deliver plenty of highlight material already, this one stood out even in a crowded week.
It also came with some history attached, since it was only the second 5-3-6 double play since the start of the 2024 season. Terry Francona praised the play afterward, which only added to the sense that De La Cruz is stacking up moments that matter beyond the box score. And after a week that already included a record-setting relay throw, the bigger question for the Reds is how many more of these plays he has left to surprise even the people who have seen almost everything from him. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Suddenly Face A Bigger Prospect Problem Than Fans Realized
The Reds have spent the better part of the last few years leaning on the idea that the next wave was always close, and for a while the rankings backed that up. From 2022 through mid-2025, Baseball America had Cincinnatis farm system sitting comfortably in the top tier, usually somewhere between seventh and 11th, giving the organization a steady sense that reinforcements were on the way. But the picture changed quickly after the 2025 season, when the system slid to 19th following the graduation of Chase Burns, a reminder that prospect depth can look a lot sturdier before the big names start moving out the door.
What has made the drop more jarring is that the decline did not stop there. By mid-2026, Baseball America had the Reds all the way down to 28th and gave the season a D, reflecting a system that has seen several prospects graduate from prospect status with mixed results and now looks especially thin on pitching depth. For a club that has long counted on its farm to keep the pipeline flowing, the concern is no longer just which prospects arrive next. It is whether there are enough impact arms left in the system to matter. [Read more 🡒]