India's unlikely path leads to roster spot

CINCINNATI -- After some infield maneuvering by the Reds a couple of weeks ago, the roster seemed to line up in prospect Jonathan India’s favor. Still, nothing feels better than getting the official word.

India has made Cincinnati’s Opening Day roster as its second baseman.

“It’s a crazy feeling. It’s something I dreamed about since I was 4 years old playing this game,” India said on Wednesday. “To be in this position right now, it still hasn’t really hit me. I’m here. It won’t really hit me until [Thursday], until I’m under the lights and playing. It’s a blessing for me. I’m not going to let this opportunity slip, and I’m going to be here for a while.”

India, the club’s No. 5 prospect, will be the first Reds second baseman to make his Major League debut on Opening Day since Pete Rose in 1963.

When Spring Training opened, India wasn’t even part of big league camp, and thus, his chances of reaching the Majors this soon appeared remote. But as part of the early Minor League camp roster of extra players that could be used in Cactus League games, he did not waste his chances.

India, now the youngest player on the 26-man roster at 24, batted .313/.441/.604 with three home runs in 22 games. On March 12, he was added to the big league camp as a non-roster player. That week, the club moved Eugenio Suárez from third base to shortstop, and Mike Moustakas from second base to third base. India’s performance made the club comfortable with him manning second base.

“He knows what he’s doing. He can hit,” Suárez said of India. “That’s why he made this team. That’s why he’s here with us. He’s got big talent. He knows how to hit. He showed how he hits in Spring Training, and I hope he does a really good job here in the regular season. Of course, it’s going to be different. But I think he’s got mental strength. And the talent is more important. I think he’s going to be really good with us.”

Manager David Bell delivered the good news to India.

“It was kind of emotional. He was just very proud of me,” India said. “It’s something I’ll never forget. That conversation really got to me, and I’m not an emotional person, but I teared up with a feeling of being on a team and what I went through this Spring Training. It was a great convo that I’ll never forget.”

India has shed the No. 71 he wore in spring and was given No. 6, the number he wore for the University of Florida.

“I’ve been No. 6 my whole life. Six was a huge number for me, and I’m so happy I got it,” India said. “Thank you to Rick Stowe [senior director, clubhouse operations] for that, because that wasn’t open until the last minute. I’m very grateful, and I’m going to wear that number with a lot of pride because that’s my number.”

The fifth overall selection in the 2018 MLB Draft, India split the ’19 season at Class A Advanced Daytona and Double-A Chattanooga and batted a combined .259/.365/.402 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs in 121 games. He spent 2020 at the Reds’ alternate site in Mason, Ohio.

That experience of facing pitchers at a higher level proved beneficial heading into 2021.

“I was definitely more comfortable this spring playing out there,” India said. “I think it was because of the alternate site. It helped me a lot, preparing myself, my body, my mental state. It gave me a different look at the game at that position. I worked on a lot of things there, and you can ask the people there that I grinded really hard there. It made me more prepared for Spring Training, mentally, at the plate and in the field.”