The Cincinnati Reds have announced 15 non-roster players that will be joining the team for Spring Training this season.
Many of the players invited are already a part of the organization, but are not on the big league roster, while others, such as Emmanuel Burris and Caesar Izturis, will try to make the team as minor league free agents.
Here are the 15 players that will be invited down to Goodyear, Ariz.
Billy Hamilton-Made headlines last season for his record 155 stolen bases while in Bakersfield and Pensacola. He's considered the Reds top prospect and is a shortstop who will be converted to a center fielder during spring training. In addition to his steals, Hamitlon also hit .311 last year with 45 RBI and had 38 extra base hits, including 14 triples.
Caesar Izturis- Last season Izturis spent 62 games with the Nationals and Brewers and is better known for his defensive skills than his offensive output. If he were to make the Reds roster, he will have played for all five NL Central teams during the course of his 11 seasons. For his career he is a lifetime .255 hitter with 17 homers and 301 RBI.
Emmanuel Burris- The former Kent State Golden Flash has played all 282 games of his MLB career in a San Francisco Giants uniform, but will join the Reds this Spring Training. Much like Izturis he is more sound with his glove than his bat boasting just a .243 average with one homer and 42 RBI.
Denis Phipps- Called up at the end of last season the outfielder made the most of the time that he got as he appeared in only eight games. He did find time to hit his first career home run in one of his ten at bats when he took Dodgers reliever Ronald Bellisario deep. He also crossed home four times.
Kristopher Negron- Appeared in four games in mid-June and had one hit in four at bats and scored twice. Negron has struggled offensively at the high level of the minors as he has hit under .220 in his last two seasons with the Louisville Bats.
Nevin Ashley- Coming over from the Rays' organization, Ashley will have a chance to compete for a spot behind Ryan Hanigan and Devin Mesoraco. Ashley hit .271 in 50 games last year for Durham and the GCL Rays.
Tucker Barnhart- Another catcher competing for a spot this spring will be Barnhart who was teammates with Hamilton at both Bakersfield and Pensacola. Barnhart hit .278 while in Class A, but went down to .200 when he moved up to Pensacola.
Corky Miller-A familiar face to both Reds and Bats fans, Miller has played all but 63 of his 199 major league games with Cincinnati. He's also spent 479 of the 993 games in the minors at Louisville. He last appeared for the Reds in 2010, but his offensive struggles (a lifetime .188 hitter in the majors) have kept him off the roster. Miller played in a career high 39 games back in 2002 for Cincinnati.
Nick Christiani- The Vanderbilt product appeared in 54 games for the Bats last season going 2-5 with a 3.34 ERA in 72.2 innings.
Wilkin De La Rosa- The 27-year old lefty has bounced around the minors since 2007 and spent last season in the Reds organization at Bakersfield and Pensacola. He had a 2.25 ERA in 53 games between the two last season and went 1-1 in 52 innings.
Justin Freeman- The reliever appeared in 57 games last year for Pensacola and had a 2.91 ERA with a 4-7 record in 68 innings pitched with 68 strikeouts.
Drew Hayes- Appeared in 56 games, including one start, for Pensacola last season and went 2-3 with a 3.41 ERA in 63.1 innings.
Chad Rogers- Started 27 games last year for Bakersfield and Pensacola. He went 6-4 with a 3.15 ERA in 21 starts at Bakerfield and was 3-1 with a 1.99 ERA in six starts at Pensacola.
Ryan LeMarre- The former Michigan Wolverine started 133 games in center field for Pensacola last season. He hit .263 with five homers and had 32 RBI with 30 stolen bases in 482 plate appearances.
Derrick Robinson- A former Royals farm hand, Robinson has spent his entire career in the Kansas City organization since 2006. Last season for Triple-A Omaha the outfielder hit .268 with 28 RBI in 116 games.
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