Reds sign 1B Dominic Smith, place OF Jake Fraley on 10-day IL

Smith joins after a stint with the Boston Red Sox.

Less than 24 hours after legendary Cincinnati Reds 1B Joey Votto announced his retirement from the game of baseball, the Reds have signed yet another 1B option to help round out their roster as they chase an elusive, impractical wild card spot.

As Jeff Passan noted earlier today, the Reds were set to sign 1B Dominic Smith to a big league deal this afternoon.

Smith posted a 94 OPS+ with the Boston Red Sox across 83 G earlier this season, his roster spot being lost when regular Sox 1B Triston Casas returned from injury. That mirrors the 94 OPS+ he posted across 153 G with the Washington Nationals in 2023 and is just a hair shy of the 97 OPS+ he owns for his career.

He’s a lefty swinger and has hit RHP better than LHP for his career, so there’s a chance he’ll be deployed in that portion of a platoon at 1B with Ty France, Spencer Steer, and whomever the heck else the Reds can track down as options there. Smith is in the lineup at 1B to start tonight’s series opener against Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates, for the record, making him the 7th different starting 1B the Reds have deployed so far this year.

To make room on the active roster, it’s Jake Fraley heading to the shelf with a right knee sprain that the Reds have backdated to yesterday. As for the 40-man roster spot needed, RHP Brooks Kriskie was designated for assignment.

I’ll give the Reds some credit here - they aren’t simply rolling over and promoting wholly unqualified players from their minor league system to fill spots as this season plays out. The credit runs out quickly, though, as it’s clear there were needs to be more aggressively addressed before the trade deadline that were not addressed thoroughly enough, and they’re scraping the bargain bin’s dusty floor every chance they get now.

Here’s to hoping Dom Smith finds one of his hot streaks beginning tonight.