What Cincinnati Reds Latest Signing Should Mean for Outfield

The Reds are starved for outfield help. And JJ Bleday is an outfielder. One would think that because they got an outfielder, they have addressed a need. I’d argue they haven’t.

Bleday has played 404 games at the MLB level. The hope that the Reds are attempting to tap into centers around the 159 games he logged in 2024, where he amassed 2.1 bWAR with a slash line of .243/.324/.437 and 20 home runs. That is a solid season, but does it outweigh the other 245 games in his career?

In that three-year span, Baseball-Reference has him at -1.1 WAR with a slash line of .194/.293/.362 with 29 homers.

He’s also not much of a platoon option. Sure, Bleday is a lefty hitter, but he has not mashed righties (.395 slugging) particularly better than lefties (.390 slugging) during his career. He is also not a good glove as he’s posted negative Defensive Runs Saved and negative Outs Above Average in each year of his career.

What's more is that he was sent down to Triple-A for a decent chunk of 2025 by the Athletics. You know the Athletics, that team that wasn't competing for anything but future vibes? Yeah, they found Bleday's presence unnecessary.

Here’s the selling point Nick Krall is likely clinging to: he was once a top draft pick, and he’s 28. He’s going to arrive in Cincinnati on the cheap and could conceivably regain some of his 2024 form. At least that’s what Krall is hoping.

If you ask me, it’s more likely he ends up on the large scrap heap of failed outfield experiments. You know the one. It includes names like Connor Joe, Garrett Hampson, Jacob Hurtubise, Joey Wiemer, Bubba Thompson, Stuart Fairchild, Nick Martini, Austin Slater, Michael Siani, TJ Hopkins, Henry Ramos, Wil Myers, Harrison Bader, and Jake Fraley.

That’s a list of players the Reds ran out to the outfield at various locations just from the last three years.

I hope I’m wrong about Bleday and he mashes in a Reds uniform. I just cannot see how that is the case as we sit here on December 27, 2025.