Reds release OF Shogo Akiyama ahead of Opening Day

As Jesse Borek wrote for the official MLB website over the weekend, the Cincinnati Reds informed outfielder Shogo Akiyama he would not be on the club's big-league roster for Thursday's Opening Day game at the Atlanta Braves. 

Per The Associated Press (h/t ESPN) and Fletcher Keel of Cincinnati's WLWT, the Reds officially released Akiyama on Tuesday. 

Akiyama became the first Japanese player in Reds history when he put pen to paper on a three-year contract worth $21 million in January 2020. His MLB debut and first season with Cincinnati were drastically altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and he was slowed by injury issues during the 2021 campaign but also struggled to look the part when healthy. 

Across 142 career regular-season games with the Reds, the outfielder, who turns 34 years old on April 16, hit .224 with zero home runs and 21 RBI. Akiyama had gone 4-for-22 (.182) with four singles and six strikeouts in seven spring training games this year. 

"It wasn’t like I was caught off guard or [it was] anything unpredictable," Akiyama said Sunday about not making the Cincinnati Opening Day squad. "I know that in the big leagues here, it could happen at any time." 

Meanwhile, Reds general manager Nick Krall said individuals such as Jake Fraley and Tyler Naquin were "better options." 

The Reds still owe Akiyama $8 million for the final campaign of his deal.