Less than a month ago, things were incredibly exciting for former Clemson baseball player Chris Okey.
On June the 10th the Cincinnati Reds selected Okey’s contract from the AAA Louisville Bats and in an emotional story Okey was told that he was going to the big leagues for the first time.
The moment @Chris_Okey_ found out he was going to The Show! pic.twitter.com/l35NRlBxZz
— Louisville Bats (@LouisvilleBats) June 10, 2022
In some ways it was a surprise as Okey has struggled at the plate in his minor league career, especially for someone drafted in the second round.
But the Reds needed help and Okey was promoted to the backup catcher job, which typically entails playing 2 or 3 games a week and Chris Okey became the 22,700th Major League Baseball Player in history.
Okey played in 7 games with the Reds going 2 for 12 with a pair of singles.
Okey’s time with the Reds lasted about 18 days before he was optioned back to Louisville and then word came yesterday that Okey had been designated for assignment.
For those not in the know, Major League teams can’t call up any minor leaguer in their system they want to. They have what’s called a “40 man roster” to choose players from and you can only call up one of those 40 players.
So, when Okey was with the Reds he was part of their 40 man roster and when he went down he was also still part of this 40 man roster.
If the Reds had a full 40 man roster for the Reds to add another player to their active roster they would have to remove someone from the 40 man roster.
"If a club with a full 40-man roster wishes to promote a Minor League player that is not on the 40-man roster, it must first remove a player from the 40-man roster — either by designating a player’s contract for assignment, trading a player, releasing a player or transferring a player to the 60-day injured list."
In this case the Reds chose to designate Okey for assignment, which likely means he will be released in the next few days.
Often times these players are picked up by other organizations or traded, so there’s still hope for Okey to catch on with another organization, but I was just struck by how fast his fortunes turned in 2 and a half weeks.