Alex

Blandino

Blandino signed a minor league deal with the Reds back in November — and most thought that he would function as extra infield depth, but it turns out he’s making the move to the mound. The deal does not yet include an invitation to big league camp and Blandino is expected to begin his pitching career at Double-A Chattanooga. The 31-year-old has made five appearances on the mound in his big league career — showing his knuckleball in three of those outings. Knuckleballers are great for the game of baseball, so we want to wish Blandino all of the success in the world in his transition to pitching.

Blandino augments Cincinnati’s infield depth at Triple-A Louisville heading into the 2024 campaign. The 31-year-old hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2021 campaign when he got into 43 contests for the Reds. He spent the majority of last year in the Mariners’ minor league system, following an early-season trade from the Giants, before being released in early August.

Blandino was traded to the Mariners from the Giants back in May and never wound up appearing in a game for Seattle. The 29-year-old infielder has hit .195/.368/.318 with four homers and eight steals in 71 games this season at the Triple-A level. He should be able to latch on elsewhere on another minor league deal.

The 29-year-old infielder signed a minor league deal with the Giants prior to the season but moves up north to Seattle and outfielder Stuart Fairchild makes his way to San Francisco. This trade seems to help out both teams and will add much-needed depth at each position.

With that large batch of cuts, the Giants now have just 34 players remaining in big league camp as they try to trim that number down to 28 before Opening Day. Junis pitched well in Cactus League action -- hurling four shutout innings with a 0.50 WHIP and 4/0 K/BB ratio -- there simply wasn’t room for him in the Giants rotation after the Carlos Rodon signing. He’ll bide his time at Triple-A until he’s needed.

Blandino slapped an RBI single in the second inning before crushing a two-run blast to left-center field in the fourth inning to put the contest out of reach. The 29-year-old has gotten off to an exceptional start at the dish this spring and is vying for a spot on the Giants’ Opening Day roster as a backup infielder.

Blandino was jettisoned from the Reds’ 40-man roster at the outset of the offseason, which enabled him to elect free agency and ink a minor-league deal during the MLB and MLB Players Association lockout. The versatile 29-year-old infielder holds a .226/.339/.291 triple-slash line across 279 plate appearances at the big-league level since 2018. He was limited to just 43 games last season due to a broken right hand in June. He’ll provide the Giants with some additional organizational infield depth next season.

Blandino is now actually a free agent after passing through waivers unclaimed. The 28-year-old utility infielder batted just .200/.317/.257 over 43 games (82 plate appearances) this past season with Cincinnati.

Blandino has been out since early June due to a broken right hand, but has already played 10 games at Triple-A Louisville on a minor-league rehab assignment. He’ll remain in the minors until a spot opens up on the Reds’ big-league roster.

Blandino has been sidelined since early June because of a broken right hand, so he’ll probably spend over a week getting at-bats on the farm before he’s an option again for the active roster in Cincinnati.