The Reds have signed outfielder Conner Capel to a minor league cope with an invite to large league Spring Coaching, per a membership announcement.
Capel, 26, was a fifth-round decide by Cleveland within the 2016 draft earlier than being swapped to the Cardinals in 2018 as a part of the return within the Oscar Mercado commerce. Capel spent the subsequent a number of seasons within the minor leagues earlier than making his large league debut with the Cardinals in 2022. In 9 video games with the massive league membership in St. Louis, Capel struggled to a slash line of simply .176/.211/.353 earlier than the membership designated him for task in late September. As soon as the Cardinals positioned Capel on waivers, the A’s swooped in and claimed him earlier than including him to the massive league roster for the stretch run. Capel caught hearth with Oakland throughout his 13-game stint with the membership to finish the 12 months, slashing an unimaginable .371/.425/.600 in his last 40 plate appearances.
That robust efficiency to finish the 2022 season earned Capel a spot on the Opening Day roster in Oakland. Although Capel obtained common begins within the outfield corners for the primary month of the season, Capel did not profit from the chance and slashed simply .258/.347/.318 throughout 75 journeys to the plate earlier than he was optioned to Triple-A. Capel in the end completed the 2023 season with a .260/.372/.329 slash line within the large leagues, good for a good wRC+ of 109. That success came visiting the course of simply 86 plate appearances, nevertheless, and Capel’s mediocre .252/.346/.402 slash line on the membership’s Triple-A affiliate, which performs within the offense-inflating Pacific Coast League, wasn’t sufficient to persuade the A’s to maintain Capel on the roster. The outfielder was outrighted off the 40-man roster again in August and subsequently hit minor league free company, permitting him to signal on with the Reds on this non-roster pact.
Capel doesn’t precisely have a transparent path to becoming a member of Cincinnati’s roster, because the lefty outfielder can be competing with the likes of TJ Friedl, Will Benson, and Jake Fraley for a spot on the membership’s roster to say nothing of right-handed outfield choices like Stuart Fairchild and Spencer Steer. Whereas the Reds’ deep positional group appears more likely to block Capel not less than coming into Spring Coaching, an damage or two on the large league stage mixed with a powerful efficiency from Capel throughout Spring Coaching and within the minors might present him the chance to interrupt onto the membership’s roster. Till then, Capel figures to function a depth choice on the Triple-A stage for the Reds, who’ve the likes of Nick Martini and Bubba Thompson additionally accessible at Triple-A.
