The Cincinnati Reds have traded outfielder Rece Hinds to the Miami Marlins for minor league pitching prospect Zach McCambley. This move comes four days after Cincinnati placed Hinds on waivers to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for P.J. Higgins after they needed to call up a catcher when Jose Trevino went on the injured list with a hamstring injury.
Hinds was initially called up in 2024 right before the All-Star break and he went nuclear, hitting five home runs and earning the National League’s Player of the Week honors. But since those first six games of his big league career he’s struggled about as much as anyone ever has. In the second half of the 2024 season, the 2025 season, and the 2026 season with the Reds, Hinds saw 107 plate appearances in several call ups and hit .100/.150/.210 while striking out 48 times.
It’s easy to dream on what Hinds could become. He’s clobbered the ball in Triple-A since the start of 2025. And when you watch him play you can see plus speed, incredible power when he hits the ball, and good defense in right field with a big time arm. But he simply has not been able to make the adjustments needed to hit big league pitching. Hinds will now get his chance with the Marlins organization and see if things can go differently for him with Miami.
Coming back in the deal is a 27-year-old right handed minor league pitcher. A 3rd round pick in 2020 out of Coastal Carolina, Zach McCambley has not yet reached the big leagues. For much of his minor league career he’s been at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. He’s performed well in the minor leagues since 2023 began, posting ERA’s of 3.22, 3.97, 2.90, and so far this season 2.36.
He struggled early in his pro career as a starting pitcher, but in that 2023 season he moved to the bullpen and he’s put up some good numbers since then. After seemingly taking a big step forward in his ability to throw strikes in 2025, he’s back to walking more hitters than you want to see in 2026. In Triple-A with Jacksonville he’s walked 17 batters and hit three others in just 26.2 innings. He’s limited hits and home runs, and he’s had a high strikeout rate (32 strikeouts while facing 108 batters) and that’s helped him keep his ERA low, but you aren’t going to find success in the big leagues walking that many guys because they’re going to get hits off of you at some point.
McCambley throws a 4-seam fastball, a 2-seam fastball, a slider, and a cutter. The fastballs work in the 92-96 range, with him topping out at 97. He mixes the 4-seamer, cutter, and slider fairly evenly, but uses his sinker just 7% of the time with everything else over the 25% mark.
He began the year as the #22 prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies system as ranked by Baseball America, but after taking him in the Rule 5 draft in December he was returned to the Marlins after not making the team out of spring training. He’s described as a low-leverage reliever. His slider was rated as his best pitch as a slightly above-average offering, with the fastball and change up both being below-average. So far this season his groundball rate is at 54%, which is a very high rate, and also much higher than he’s been in his minor league career.
You can see the career stats for Zach McCambley here.