Cincinnati Reds utility player Santiago Espinal frequently practices with a unique training glove.It’s so small that it looks like it was made for a five-year-old. Inside of the webbing, there are big red pads that take up the bulk of the space in the mitt. Before just about every game, Espinal sets up near the first base dugout, puts on the glove and fields one ground ball after another.
Because the glove is so small and because the pads are taking up so much space, Espinal has to snatch the ball perfectly to make sure it lands inside of the mitt. He makes it look easy as he fields one grounder after another.
Then, his teammates try it on. Most of them struggle to get the ball to land in the tiny mitt, and no one is as perfect as Espinal.
Espinal, who hit the go-ahead two-run single in a 5–3 win over the Houston Astros on Monday, has the best hands on the team. It shows up as he uses his training glove, as he makes every play in the infield and as he makes contact as consistently as anyone on the team.
"I’m glad they gave me an opportunity here," Espinal said. "I’m taking advantage. I feel like it comes from my preparation. Being ready to play, that’s all it is."
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In the fifth inning on Monday, Astros ace Justin Verlander challenged Espinal with a four-seam fastball on the inside part of the strike zone. Espinal sawed it off and hit a flare single that snuck into right field.
Espinal is tied for the best batting average on the Reds, and he knows exactly who he is as a player. He whiffs less often than almost anyone else in baseball, strikes out at an extraordinarily low rate, puts the ball in play and uses the entire field. He also has a career-high nine homers in 2024.
Defensively, Espinal is as reliable as it gets.
"I said it in spring training, I can't believe we were able to get him," said Reds reliever Emilio Pagán, who saved a depleted pitching staff with 2 1/3 shutout innings on Monday. "I don't know what the return was — and I'm not trying to be disrespectful to who the Blue Jays got — for basically what seemed like nothing at the time."
The Reds acquired Espinal by dealing pitcher Chris McElvain, a former eighth-round pick who has a 4.56 ERA in High-A this year.
"What (Espinal) has done in this league is hard to do," Pagán said. "It's hard to be an All-Star. And he's having arguably an even better stretch now than he did in his All-Star season."
Reds manager David Bell has so much confidence in Espinal that he threw Espinal in the outfield during the summer. Even though Espinal had been an infielder for his entire life, he handled the change just fine.
On Sunday, Espinal hit the walk-off single in the 11th inning as the Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers. With the game-winning run on third base, Bell pinch-hit Espinal. Bell needed a batter who could put the ball in play, and Espinal was the ideal option.
"It's a great skill," Bell said. "It separates him. It's led to a lot of hits in big spots."
Since the middle of July, Espinal has been one of the most consistent hitters for average in MLB. Even though his playing time fluctuates and he might sit on the bench for several days in a row, he’ll return to the lineup and make an impact.
Espinal, currently battling a minor knee issue, is the type of bench piece that every team could use. While he struggled when he was pressed into a starting role during the first half of the season, Espinal has carved out a role that he’ll likely stick in going forward.
Heading into 2025, the Reds’ infield has a lot of questions. Matt McLain and Christian Encarnacion-Strand are coming back from season-ending surgeries, and Jeimer Candelario and Noelvi Marte will be coming off of down seasons. Espinal, who’s under contract through 2026, gives the Reds a useful piece who can contribute just about anywhere.
"To bring a guy like that in the clubhouse, the results on the field are awesome and he's also probably one of the better leaders in how he goes about his business," Pagán said. "You look up and he has a (.714) on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) and is hitting .270. You could argue that he's one of the more important players on our roster, if not the most right now because of what he can do defensively."
