The Marlins and Reds announced that they have made a trade sending outfielder Rece Hinds from Cincinnati to Miami. The Marlins optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville and transferred left-hander Robby Snelling to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. The Reds, who designated Hinds for assignment a few days ago, receive minor league right-hander Zach McCambley in return. The Marlins also recalled infielder Graham Pauley and placed infielder Leo Jiménez on the seven-day injured list with concussion symptoms.
Hinds, 25, has shown the potential to be a masher but hasn’t yet done that in a major league setting. In 131 big league plate appearances, he has a .172/.221/.426 line. But he hit five home runs in spring training this year, leading to a ridiculous .410/.465/.949 line. In Triple-A, dating back to the start of 2025, he has 31 home runs in 540 plate appearances a .303/.371/.576 line.
There is clearly some power there but the concern is when he doesn’t connect. Hinds has generally struck out in about a third of his plate appearances throughout his minor league career. In his brief big league action, he has a massive 42% strikeout rate.
There is a small hint of optimism in that department. At Triple-A, again dating back to the start of 2025, his strikeout rate is just 26.3%. That’s still above average but not as bad as his earlier minor league numbers, as he had a 35% strikeout rate from 2021 to 2024. He’s got some wheels and a good arm for right field, so he could be a real asset if he can get the strikeouts under control.
Hinds is in his final option year. The Marlins can keep him at Jacksonville for now and get a close-up look at his offensive approach. If there’s an injury in the big league outfield or he shows notable improvement, he could be called up.
The Reds moved on from Hinds but are able to turn him into some extra pitching depth. McCambley, 27, is a reliever who has shown some promise in the minors. The Phillies grabbed him in the Rule 5 draft in November but returned him to the Marlins at the end of spring training.
McCambley has a mid-90s four-seamer but that’s only his third pitch in terms of usage. He primarily throws his high-80s cutter and mid-80s slider, throwing each of those pitches about a third of the time. Four-seamers, sinkers, curveballs and changeups make up the other third.
Between last year and this year, he has thrown 67 1/3 Triple-A innings thus far, allowing 2.94 earned runs per nine. His 11.6% walk rate in that time is too high but he has punched out 30.3% of batters faced and induced a good amount of grounders as well. He is not on the 40-man roster but the Reds could call him up at some point down the line if they need a fresh arm or want to shake up their bullpen mix.
Snelling was diagnosed with a sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament last week. It’s not yet clear if he will undergo surgery but it’s not a surprise to see him transferred to the 60-day IL. Even the non-surgical paths back from a UCL sprain require lengthy recovery periods. He will technically be eligible for reinstatement in July but time will tell what a realistic timeline is for his return.
As for Jiménez, he exited yesterday’s game with an apparent injury. As Ronald Acuña Jr. was sliding into third base, Jiménez tried to tag him and the two collided, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. As Jiménez recovers, Pauley will get another shot in the big leagues. Pauley is a strong defender at third base but his offense is more questionable. He hit .173/.225/.293 for the Fish earlier this year before getting optioned to Jacksonville. He hit three homers in nine games for the Jumbo Shrimp and will now try to produce more offense in the big leagues.
Pauley has one option year remaining. A player burns an option year once they spend 20 days on optional assignment. It was two weeks ago that Pauley was sent down, so he still has a chance to carry that option into 2027 if he stays up from here on out.
The Hinds/McCambley trade and Pauley’s recall were first reflected in the transactions tracker at MLB.com. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald first reported that Jiménez would go on the IL. The Snelling move came from the official team announcement.
