24 year old Edwin Encarnacion played in 117 games for the Reds and he hit .276 with 60 runs scored, 15 homers, 72 RBIs and a .831 OPS.  Encarnacion has huge problems on defense as he made 25 errors and showed below average range.  The question is, will Encarnacion’s work with the bat outweigh his big time problems on defense.  It seems like the Reds will be content to take advantage of Encarnacion’s bat as long as he hits at least as well as he did last season.

Juan Castro will likely be the back up third baseman for the Reds.  He played in 19 games at third last season and he flashed great range and didn’t make an error.

27 year old Jeff Keppinger played in 12 games at third base last season and he made 2 errors there, but showed great range.

32 year old Mark Bellhorn played in 50 games last season in the majors and he made 4 errors while showing below average range.

The Reds decided to shore up their defense at shortstop so they signed 30 year old Alex L. Gonzalez to a three-year contract in the off season.  Gonzalez has good range, a strong throwing arm and soft hands on defense.  Gonzalez only made 7 errors last season for the Red Sox in 111 games.  He hit .255 with 9 homers, 50 RBIs and had a .695 OPS for the Red Sox last season.  Gonzalez swings at a lot of bad pitches so his batting average will never get much higher than .250, but he has good power for a shortstop and could hit 15-20 homers for the Reds this season.  He also could compete for a Gold Glove this season if he stays healthy and plays in a lot of games for the Reds this season.

34 year old Juan Castro will be the back up shortstop for the Reds this season.  He hit .251 with 3 homers, 28 RBIs and a .632 OPS for the Reds & Twins last season.  He made 8 errors in 77 games at shortstop last season but he showed above average range.  Look for Castro to be a decent back up infielder for the Reds defensively, but he won’t hit much.

24 year old Jerry Gil was added in a trade with the Diamondbacks in the off season.  He had a pretty good year between AA+AAA ball last season as he played in 128 games and hit .256 with 27 homers, 89 RBIs and had a .789 OPS.  He last played in the majors in 2004 with the Diamondbacks.  He has played in 29 major league games in his career and has a .174 batting average and a .403 OPS.  He also made 5 errors in those 29 games so he might have been a tad nervous.  Look for him to start the season in the minors, but, he could be called up soon if the Reds have any injuries to the infield.

26 year old Anderson Machado had a bad season in AA ball for the Reds last year.  He played in 129 games and hit only .237 with 7 homers, 39 RBIs and a .680 OPS.  Machado last played in the majors in 2005 with the Reds.  He has played in 24 games in his major league career and he has a batting average of .221 with a .657 OPS.  Look for Machado to be playing in the minors most, it not all of the season.

The Cincinnati Reds stole Brandon Phillips from the Cleveland Indians.  When the Indians traded Bartolo Colon to the Montreal Expos, Brandon Phillips was the key part of the deal and the Indians quickly pronounced that Phillips would be the next Derek Jeter!  Finally, the Indians after four seasons pretty much gave up on Phillips and designated him for assignment.  The Reds picked up the phone and got him for pratically nothing (pitcher Jeff Stevens) and now they have their 2B for the future.  Phillips had an outstanding season as he hit .276 with a .751 OPS, 17 homers, 75 RBIs and 25 steals.  That was just the beginning of what looks to be a good major league career for Brandon Phillips.  He does need to work on his defense as he made 16 errors at second base and he has about average range.  In his defense, he played mostly SS for the Indians so chances are he will adjust with practice.

27 year old Jeff Keppinger has been brought in to compete for a back up job for the Reds and all he needs is an opportunity.  He hit .267 with a .723 OPS in Kansas City in 60 at bats.  He really had a great season in the minors as he hit .316 in 450 at bats last season in AAA.

32 year old Mark Bellhorn will be in camp to compete for a spot on the Reds bench.  He just isn’t a good baseball player, period.  Last season he hit .190 with a .629 OPS, 8 homers and 27 RBIs in 253 at bats for the Padres.  He has whiffed an amazing once every 2.92 at bats over his career which spans 2,093 at bats over 9 major league seasons.  His best asset is that he can play almost everywhere on the field, but, he’s still a longshot to make the team.

35 year old Kerry Ligtenberg is another veteran arm that will compete for a bullpen job in Spring Training for the Reds.  Last season Ligtenberg pitched the entire year in AAA and had a 4-4 record with 18 saves, a 3.57 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP.  For his career, Ligtenberg has a 12-20 record with 48 saves and a 3.82 ERA.  But, he hasn’t pitched well in the majors since 2003, so he will be a long shot to make the Reds.

37 year old lefty swinging Scott Hatteberg will get most of the at bats against righty starters for the Reds.  Hatteberg is a decent hitter as he hit .289 with a .825 OPS, 13 homers and 51 RBIs in 456 at bats.  Having a platoon partner should help his batting average because he’s a career .239 hitter against lefties.  He has turned into a pretty good defensive first baseman as he only made 4 errors last season.

40 year old Jeff Conine was acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies to platoon with Hatteberg and also play a little outfield.  He hit .268 last season with a .724 OPS and 10 homers and 66 RBIs in 489 at bats.  Look for the average and OPS to both rise as he will be facing mostly left handed pitchers.  Conine also is a very good defender as he made only 2 errors last season at first base.  Conine and Hatteberg will come to putting up close to league average offensive numbers and good defense.