[More Cowbell]

With the Yankees yes, but with the Reds, he was a starter. You are right, he is a role player, but on the Reds, short of quality players, he had a starting role that was better then many on this squad

I'm pretty sure even the Reds didn't envision him as a starter when they signed him last winter. Going into the season, the starting OF's were Bruce, Tavares, and Dickerson, while the starting IF was Votto, Phillips, Gonzalez, and EE. Hairston was supposed to fill the role he's best at, that of supersub.

Of course, the main job of the supersub utility guy is to fill in for injured players, and there have been plenty of those (EE, Gonzalez, Bruce, Dickerson, Tavares). So consequently, Hairston has had numerous chances to start for the Reds this year.

Still, I think the stats would bear out that if Hairston is an everyday starter for an extended length of time, he will show why he is best suited to the utility role.