With minor league camp underway, the Cincinnati Reds made their first cuts of the spring on Monday morning. They would send 11 players to the minor league side of things. Here are all of the moves:

Carlos Contreras was optioned to Louisville, Amir Garrett and Sal Romano were both optioned to Pensacola. The following players were simply reassigned to minor league camp: Alex Blandino, Calten Daal, Phillip Ervin, Eric Jagielo, Matt Magill, Nick Travieso and Chad Wallach.

There isn’t much of a surprise from the bunch, other than Carlos Contreras was optioned. The reason that’s a surprise is that he’s already used three options in his career and didn’t seem to qualify for a fourth one from the rules that I’ve seen – but apparently he does.

The big pitching prospects, Garrett, Romano and Travieso weren’t really vying for a big league job this spring, but were there to get experience and prepare for their season that will begin with Double-A Pensacola.

Phillip Ervin was certainly hitting well, better than the other position players that were sent down today. His 1.112 OPS was second to only Joey Votto among players with more than five at-bats for the Reds this spring.

Then there is Matt Magill, who didn’t pitch at all this spring and is still recovering from an injury. When he is healthy and ready to pitch, look for him with the Louisville Bats. It’s more likely to see him coming out of the bullpen than the rotation, especially coming off of an injury.

The roster moves today likely mean that we are going to start seeing the regulars go a little bit deeper into games, and maybe get a little more playing time – on a daily basis, from the guys vying for jobs on the 25-man roster and perhaps some of the guys working out of the bullpen pitching more than every 3-4 days.