Reds cut ties with inspiring Army member to make space for .141 hitter

Contributor
Billy Heyen
Reds cut ties with inspiring Army member to make space for .141 hitter image

Jacob Hurtubise has one of the coolest stories in baseball.

He's a second lieutenant in the United States Army. The Mariners drafted him in the 39th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, and he eventually made his way to the Cincinnati Reds organization.

Hurtubise is only the second West Point graduate to play in Major League Baseball.

But on Saturday, the Reds let him loose. They designated Hurtubise for assignment to remove him from the 40-man roster.

In his stead, they claimed Ryan Vilade off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals. Vilade is a career .141 hitter who is batting .077 this season.

It's one of those end-of-the-roster moves that may not mean a ton one way or the other, but it's a bummer to take Hurtubise off the 40-man roster.

He now goes on waivers and could be claimed by another team. If he's not, he'll likely accept his assignment to Triple-A Louisville.

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Hurtubise has struggled in limited MLB action with a .167 average. He has some speed, with a triple and a couple steals without being caught.

He has also struggled with Louisville this season, likely resulting in the Reds trying to freshen things up.

Vilade has batted .280 with some power for Triple-A Memphis.

Hopefully, Hurtubise can catch on with another team, or keep grinding at Triple-A Louisville, because his story is simply really cool.

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