GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Reds didn't wait until leaving Arizona to have their planned 26-man roster for Opening Day. On Saturday, the club made its final three Spring Training cuts.\n\nOutfielders JJ Bleday and Rece Hinds and right-handed reliever Zach Maxwell were optioned to Triple-A Louisville. That meant that lefty reliever Sam Moll, outfielder Dane Myers and non-roster first baseman Nathaniel Lowe made the team.
“We’ve talked to everybody,\" manager Terry Francona said.\n\nTwo players, starting pitcher Hunter Greene (right elbow surgery) and lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson (oblique), will open the regular season on the injured list. Not expected to be ready until at least July, Greene is likely to be on the 60-day IL, which opens a 40-man roster spot for Lowe.\n\nHinds batted .410 with a 1.414 OPS in 21 games this spring and is second on the club with five home runs. Bleday, who was signed as free agent to a one-year, $1.4 million contract on Dec. 27, batted .317 with a 1.047 OPS in 15 games with four homers. But both outfielders have Minor League options.\n\n“Not just that, it was the role. It’s a bench role,\" Francona said. \"We really want Bleday and Hinds to play, and we told them that because they both swung the bat really well. And we talked to Lowe about the role just to make sure. Hinds couldn’t have done more. I was very careful with how I worded it to him, ‘No, you did enough to make the team. The role is a bench spot and we want you to play.’”
Entering Saturday, Moll has worked nine scoreless innings in nine appearances with two hits, six walks and 12 strikeouts.\n\n“I would say the last four outings, his stuff has really ticked up,\" Francona said. \"His changeup has been really good. With Ferguson down, it gives us that second lefty. It just seemed to make sense to us.”\n\nThe official roster doesn't have to be set until just before Opening Day, which means a potential waiver claim could bring a slight change. But that also appears unlikely.\n\n“I’m sure that they’re not going to just turn their phones off, I totally get that,\" Francona said of Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall and general manager Brad Meador. \"But we made our team for a reason.”\n\nHere is how Cincinnati's 26-man roster looks:\n\n**Catcher (2):
**Infielders (5):
**Outfielders (5):
**Starting pitchers (6): LHP