Cincinnati Reds Make Plethora of Roster Moves on Sunday, Including One Surprise

The Cincinnati Reds made a plethora os roster moves on Sunday morning. They placed right-handed relief pitcher Pierce Johnson on the bereavement list. In a corresponding move, they recalled Zach Maxwell, who was just sent back down to Triple-A Louisville on Saturday.

They also sent outfielder Rece Hinds to Louisville and promoted Blake Dunn.

Cincinnati's bullpen has thrown a ton of innings over the last two days in their losses against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They need a lengthy start from starting pitcher Chase Burns on Sunday.

Interesting Move

Apr 20, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cincinnati Reds outfielder Blake Dunn (59) hits an RBI single during the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Since JJ Bleday has been promoted to the big leagues, he's played very well and will most likely continue to start against right-handed pitching. Will Benson has also played well lately, hitting two home runs in his last three games. He could also possibly start seeing more time against righties if the Reds are willing to sit Ke'Bryan Hayes or Matt McLain more often.

Hinds had not been seeing much playing time lately and he has reverse splits. With that being the case, the Reds likely wanted to bring someone up who could platoon with Bleday or Benson.

While Dunn hasn't had much success in his brief stints with the Reds, he is known for crushing left-handed pitching in the minor leagues.

In 2025, Dunn slashed .376/.437/.570 with 10 extra-base hits against lefties, compared to .261/.384/.341 against right-handers. Dunn also has plenty of speed and is a guy they can use to pinch-run and serve as a defensive replacement late in games.

The Rece Hinds Issues

Apr 24, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds outfielder Rece Hinds (57) runs to second after hitting a double in the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Hinds had shown so much progress in the minors over the last year that Reds fans, myself included, thought it would be different for him this time around in the big leagues. However, that wasn't the case.

The 25-year-old slashed just .121/.167/.212 with three extra-base hits and no home runs over 12 games. His biggest issue has always been chasing pitches out of the zone, which he improved at in the minor leagues. However, when he got called back up to the bigs, the struggles continued big time. He chased 41.8% of pitches out of the zone. It's nearly impossible to be successful at the Major League level swinging at that many pitches outside of the zone.

Pitchers were only throwing him strikes 38.5% of the time.

When Hinds goes back down to Louisville, his biggest goal should be to work on chasing pitches outside of the zone, similar to what Noelvi Marte is working on down there.

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