Cincinnati Reds activate Christian Encarnacion-Strand (just like you all wanted)

The slugging 1B is back on the active roster!

Earlier this week we posited the question - should the Cincinnati Reds activate Christian Encarnacion-Strand when he’s healthy and done rehabbing, or should they option him to AAA to continue to shake off the rust he’d shown across the last two frustrating big league campaigns?

You responded, and did so emphatically. With 64% of the vote, y’all wanted the Reds to activate CES and play him early and often at the spots in the batting order where he’s best suited - 1B and DH.

If this were a question for a rehabbing CES in late 2023, it would have probably been unanimous. He slugged his way right through AAA that season and on to the Cincinnati active roster, posting a 112 OPS+ and swatting 13 homers in just 241 PA along the way.

That’s kind of the point here, though. 2023 is now long, long ago, and across 2024 and 2025 he’s been valued at a putrid -1.7 bWAR for the 182 PA of meager 35 OPS+ work he’s provided. Injuries have set him back tremendously, and there’s worry that he may take awhile to ever put things back together again.

I’d wager that the bulk of the 36% of folks suggesting he be optioned to AAA still have some sort of high hopes for CES, and they’d prefer to see him getting 30 PA a week down there to rediscover his groove before the Reds simply roll him out rusty at the big league level. Or, that’s what they’d prefer to him being activated and sitting on the bench most days, as the Reds do have some versatile, viable options to use at 1B/DH that have hit much, much better in the majors the last two seasons.

Interestingly enough, one of those guys was catcher Austin Wynns, who the Reds had been carrying the last few weeks despite the health of Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino. That’s because they didn’t want to simply lose Wynns - who was out of options - on waivers, a move that would seriously dent their organizational catching depth. However, carrying a bench bat who simply never played became too burdensome for the roster construction, and it was Wynns who was designated for assignment today to make way for CES’ return.

The Reds announced said move on Twitter earlier Friday.

CES is immediately back in the lineup, too - he’s hitting 5th in Friday’s series opener against Arizona while playing 1B.

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