This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon's Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CINCINNATI – Thirteen games into his big league career with the Reds, infielder Edwin Arroyo is getting increasingly comfortable while still finding his footing.
“I don’t think anything here is predictable. You’ve just got to be ready every time. Besides that, it’s just baseball," Arroyo said. “The experience here is different for sure, how they take the game to a different level.”
The sample size remains small at the plate for the organization's No. 3 prospect (No. 96 overall). The switch-hitting Arroyo is batting .219 with a .497 OPS and no extra-base hits.
A natural shortstop, the 22-year-old Arroyo has played mostly second base since he was called up on June 1 after Elly De La Cruz went on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain.
“I think he’s done a pretty good job," manager Terry Francona said. "At second, he looks like a really good defender. We haven’t seen him a lot at short. You probably will.
“He’s an interesting guy because he’s not the biggest body, but there’s a lot of life to it. He can run. A switch-hitter. If he was hitting .100, you don’t want to say he’s no good, and if he’s hitting .300, well, he’s an All-Star. He’s not really settled in yet.”
A highly coveted Reds prospect since he was acquired from the Mariners in the July 2022 trade for rotation ace Luis Castillo, Arroyo had only 53 games at the Triple-A level before his promotion. He batted .323 with a .945 OPS, 11 home runs and 34 RBIs for Louisville.
COMPLETE REDS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Chasing out of the strike zone was an issue in the Minors, and Arroyo has been largely free-swinging in the Majors, too. He has 10 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances and a chase rate of 43.1%. Pitchers will continue to exploit that by giving him fewer pitches to hit.
“That’s the only thing I probably need to work on, just my approach and staying consistent with it," Arroyo said. "Other than that, the swing is there. If I swing at strikes, I’m going to be good.”
Arroyo's bat speed allows him to get to fastballs more quickly, but successfully hitting breaking balls and changeups remains among the challenges.
The Reds are letting Arroyo swing away as he gets acclimated to big league pitching.
“You want to be careful on the messaging because if you’re passive and hitting 0-1 all the time, it’s going to be hard to be selective," Francona said. "As a hitting instructor, those messages are touchy. Obviously, the more good pitches you swing at, the better chance you have. But if you just go up and take, then you’re probably going to have a harder time later in the count, too.”
Defensively, Arroyo has played 10 games – with seven starts – at second base with three games (two starts) at shortstop. In his debut game against the Royals on June 1, he deftly went to his left for a slick stop on a ground-ball out, and he has been solid since.
In the Minors, Arroyo played second base 32 times, but 18 were this season for Louisville. He was at shortstop for 378 games over five seasons.
“I’ve played plenty of second base," Arroyo said. "The last couple of weeks [in the Minors], they told me I was going to play more second base. I made myself feel comfortable so I could be ready and handle it like I’m handling it right now.”