The Cincinnati Reds added two veteran outfielders Thursday on waiver claims: Harrison Bader from the New York Yankees, and Hunter Renfroe from the Los Angeles Angels.
A National League Gold Glove outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021, Bader also was a finalist for a Gold Glove in 2019.
Bader hit .240 with seven homers and 37 RBIs with 17 stolen bases in 310 plate appearances this season for the Yankees. In parts of seven seasons for the Cards and Yankees, he’s hit .244 with 59 HRs and 214 RBIs with 74 SBs.
Five more things to know about Bader, who turned 29 in June:
Bader becomes the eighth Reds player in double figures in stolen bases this season.
Bader comes to the Reds with 17 stolen bases in his 84 games this season as a Yankee. TJ Friedl (24), Elly De La Cruz (23) and Jake Fraley (20) have more, and Matt McLain (14), Will Benson (14), Spencer Steer (12) and Jonathan India (12) all have at least 12.
But Fraley, McLain and India are all on the injured list, meaning Bader could play a role in helping the Reds maintain their Major League Baseball lead in SBs (157 in 135 games).
Bader committed to Team Israel’s 2023 World Baseball Classic roster, but withdrew because of injury.
Bader said he’d consider playing for Israel in the future, after injuries kept him from competing in March.
Reds assistant pitching coach Alon Leichman, featured in a March story by The Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith, has pitched and coached for Team Israel.
Bader was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round in 2015 from University of Florida.
One of the Cardinals’ first-round picks in 2015, pitcher Jake Woodford, was involved in an April 2021 benches-clearing incident with the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Then-Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos wasn’t happy with a Woodford pitch that hit him. Later in the inning, Castellanos slid into home on a wild pitch in front of Woodford’s tag and stood up to flex/celebrate.
The Reds’ 2015 draft class included first-rounder Tyler Stephenson, second-rounder Tony Santillan, 12th-rounder Alexis Diaz and 27th-rounder Alejo Lopez.
Santillan was designated for assignment by the Reds earlier this week. Lopez was DFA’d Thursday when the Reds added Bader and Renfroe.
Bader has played in 19 postseason games, and starred in the 2022 playoffs.
Bader had just three hits in 22 at-bats for the Cardinals over three postseasons in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2020, when Bader became the third player in MLB history to strike out five times in a postseason game, he joined a former Red (Reggie Sanders, 1995 NLDS) with that dubious distinction.
But Bader caught fire for the Yankees in last year’s postseason. Five of his 10 hits in 30 at-bats (.333) during the ALDS against Cleveland and the ALCS against Houston were home runs. He became the fifth player in Yankees’ history to hit at least five homers in a single postseason, joining Giancarlo Stanton (6 in 2020), Alex Rodriguez (6 in 2009), Bernie Williams (6 in 1996) and Reggie Jackson (5 in 1977).
Bader has hit .297 in 183 career plate appearances against the Reds, with a .901 OPS.
Bader’s batting average against the Reds is his best against any National League opponent. His eight home runs against the Reds are tied (with the Cubs) for most against any opponent.
Bader hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off of Reds starter Hunter Greene in the 5th inning of the Yankees’ 4-1 win against Cincinnati on May 21 at GABP.
Bader was 6-for-16 with two doubles and three homers against the Reds in 2020. He was 13-for-30 with three doubles and three HRs against Cincinnati in 2021.
Bader recorded his first career walk-off hit with a ninth-inning single Sept. 1, 2019, off of Michael Lorenzen in St. Louis’ 4-3 win against Cincinnati.