The Reds made five roster moves before their game with the Guardians on May 17, placing catcher Jose Trevino on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring injury, selecting catcher P.J. Higgins from Triple-A Louisville and designating outfielder Rece Hinds for assignment. Cincinnati also called up right-hander Jose Franco and optioned right-hander Luis Mey.
The moves arrived just hours after the team’s roster picture shifted again, with Trevino back on the injured list for the second time this season. He had already missed about three weeks in April with a thoracic spine sprain, and he was hitting just.143/.172/.179 in 30 plate appearances before the latest setback. Higgins, who filled in during that April stretch, posted a.450 OPS over 12 plate appearances in five games.
The biggest gut punch may have been Hinds, whose electric raw tools have made him one of the more watchable names in the organization. Francona did not hide that he hoped another club might give the 2024 MLB debutant a better shot than he got in Cincinnati. “Maybe for his sake, I really hope he gets an opportunity he didn’t get here,” Francona said. “I love the kid. There are obviously tools there. Sometimes, things have a way of working out for guys.”
Hinds has flashed those tools before. After his debut in 2024, he hit.261/.333/.717 with five home runs in 51 plate appearances, but the production never held in the majors. Over 80 plate appearances in the 2025-26 seasons, he hit.118/.150/.250 and struck out 39 times. By contrast, he has been crushing Triple-A pitching for the last two seasons in Louisville, where his elite speed and ability to play all three outfield positions have kept him on the radar.
That contrast is what made the Reds’ decision so stark. Hinds, a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, showed enough upside to remain a lingering part of the conversation, but Cincinnati needed room and chose the harder path. If he clears waivers, he cannot reject an outright assignment to Triple-A, which means the next team has a real chance to decide whether the upside is worth the gamble.
The catching situation is no cleaner. Trevino’s move leaves Cincinnati trying to patch together a position that has produced a minus-0.1 bWAR this season from Trevino, Higgins and starter Tyler Stephenson. For now, the Reds have turned to a familiar tradeoff: more flexibility on the roster, less certainty behind the plate. The next question is whether another club sees enough in Hinds to claim him before Cincinnati’s gamble becomes permanent.
