Reds Outfielder’s Potential Remains Largely Untapped

The Reds Are Misusing Outfielder Rece Hinds

Hinds’ 2024 Outburst

Hinds debuted in 2024, where he appeared in 24 games and smashed the cover off the baseball. He slashed .261/.333/.717 for a 1.051 OPS and 175 OPS+. In the first five games of his MLB career, he hit safely in all of them and became the first player in MLB history with five extra base hits in his first two games. With three massive home runs in his first five games, two of which traveled over 450 feet, it looked like the Reds had found an absolute slugger to bolster the lineup for the future.

It was a 2019 Aristides Aquino-esque run for Hinds. Naturally, there was some skepticism on the sustainability of this hot stretch. However, all fans cared about was how many more moonshots Hinds was going to send into the bleachers at Great American Ball Park. Hinds’ metrics were an indication that his hot stretch was in fact, not simply a lucky stretch.

xwOBA – (.388)

xBA – (.247)

xSLG – (.609)

Avg Exit Velo – (91.6 MPH)

Barrel % – (20.0%)

Hard-Hit % – (40.0%)

Furthermore, he was also one of the fastest players in the league with 29.2 feet per second, good for the 92nd percentile.

Hinds’ 2025 Season

After his small cup of coffee in the big leagues in 2024, Reds fans were excited to see Rece Hinds make the big league roster in some capacity and get routine at-bats. Unfortunately for him, he only gets spot starts and random stints on the roster here and there.

So far this year, he’s played 14 games at the major league level with 43 plate appearances, slashing just .119/.140/.286 for a .425 OPS and 12 OPS+. His performance has given him -0.4 bWAR this year, and there isn’t much of a redeeming quality to these stats.

However, one can argue a case of misuse by the organization based on the situations they use Hinds.

The Organization’s Misuse of Hinds

Rece Hinds is a hitter who has severe reverse splits. He hits much better against right-handers than against left-handers despite swinging from the right side.

In 2024, here are his numbers against right-handers and left-handers:

Numbers vs right-handers

.357/.219/1.000

1.419 OPS

271 wRC+

29.0 K% – 6.5 BB%

Numbers vs. left-handers

.111/.200/.278

.478 OPS

30 wRC+

35.0 K% – 10.0 BB%

The clear and concrete proof above shows that Hinds struggled massively against left-handers. It is mind-boggling that the organization (or just Terry Francona) would decide to make him a platoon hitter in 2025, mostly facing left-handers.

It is organizational malpractice to essentially purposefully put a player in unfavorable situations time and time again, then complain when said player isn’t performing well.

Here are his numbers against right-handers and left-handers in 2025:

Numbers vs. right-handers

.250/.240/.500

.740 OPS

95 wRC+

32.0 K% – 4.0 BB%

Numbers vs. left-handers

.000/.000/.000

.000 OPS

-100 wRC+

66.7 K%- 0.0 BB%

His OPS of .740 against right-handers in 2025 is certainly not eye-popping, but it is almost at league average level, which is clearly better than his .000 OPS against left-handers this year.

Not only has the organization and/or Francona put him at a disadvantage by playing him so much against left-handers, but he’s also had to face some of the best southpaws in the league this year.

Hinds has had to face Carlos Rodón, Garrett Crochet, Max Fried, Jesús Luzardo, and Ranger Suárez this season. This is no doubt a poor barometer to judge any hitter, let alone one who already struggles against left-handers.

The Easy Solution

Teams like the San Francisco Giants in 2022 and the Detroit Tigers this year have done the platoon lineups to perfection, playing their hitters in situations where they have proven success. Their platoon-heavy approach to lineup construction is proof that the method indeed works, and it is as simple as it gets since all of the data is available.

There is truly no explanation for why the Reds have looked at Rece Hinds’ profile and decided to make him a traditional platoon hitter. It is a disappointment to see a potential impact bat being stashed in Triple-A. Many, seemingly including the organization, have labeled him as a Quadruple-A hitter because they turned their eye on basic data.