Cincinnati Reds Signed a Powerful Outfielder with Great Aspirations and Impact
On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Reds announced that they had signed former Oakland A’s outfielder Conner Capel to a minor league contract with an invite to Major League camp.
Capel was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians back in 2016 in the fifth round and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals two years later as part of the Oscar Mercardo deal. He stayed in the Cardinals’ organization until late into the 2022 season when he was designated for assignment and swooped up by the A’s.
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The 26-year old got into 13 games down the stretch with Oakland and went 13-for-35, good for a .371 average, and he also tallied four walks to boost his OBP up to .425 in that small sample.
Capel earned a spot on the A’s Opening Day roster in 2023 and hit .266 with a .356 OBP in 64 at-bats through April, but he was also striking out entirely too much at 28.8%. The A’s optioned him to Triple-A at the beginning of May and that was the end of his regular playing time in Oakland in ’23. He made a quick appearance in late June that lasted until July 4th when he was sent back to the minors for good.
The left-hander went 4-for-11 against southpaws with a pair of doubles last season and finished with a 109 wRC+ overall. Baseball Savant has him arm strength listed in the 93rd percentile, so he has the arm to play any outfield position, but the A’s had him in the corners last year and in his limited playing time he accrued -2 Outs Above Average in right field in 107 innings and was league average in left field in 71 innings.
Breaking into the Reds’ outfield mix could be tricky with TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer holding pretty firm grips on two of the three spots, but if Capel can find a way into regular playing time, he’s shown that his bat can play at the big league level in Oakland, which is one of the more pitcher-friendly ballparks in the game. With Cincinnati, he’d be going to a hitter-friendly environment which could set him on a path to some pretty impressive numbers to fill out his stat line.
