The Reds announced Tuesday morning that they’ve reinstated right-hander Tejay Antone from the injured list and optioned Scott Heineman to Triple-A Louisville to open a roster spot. Antone ultimately missed only 11 days due to a bout of forearm inflammation and will be returning at a perfect time; Cincinnati used every reliever on the roster during last night’s 12-inning marathon against after starter Tyler Mahle lasted just four innings. The 27-year-old Antone has been one of baseball’s best relievers in 2021, pitching to a minuscule 1.41 ERA with a lofty 34.5 percent strikeout percentage against a 9.5 percent walk rate. He’s worked multiple innings with regularity, though it remains to be seen whether the club will drop him right back into a multi-inning stint after an injury layoff — even in spite of the taxed bullpen.
Cincinnati right-hander Sonny Gray could also be closing in on a return, as C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports Gray will make a rehab start with the Reds’ top minor league affiliate Thursday. The 31-year-old hit the injured list a couple weeks ago due to a groin strain, and the team was hopeful at the time that he’d only need to miss a pair of starts. It may end up being a bit longer, but if all goes well with Gray’s rehab outing, he’d be looking at only about a three-week absence from the rotation. The veteran righty has a 3.42 ERA and a 30.1 percent strikeout rate in 50 innings for the Reds this season.
A couple more injury scenarios of note around the league…
- The White Sox announced Tuesday that outfielder Adam Engel is headed to the 10-day injured list due to a strain of his right hamstring. Outfielder Luis Gonzalez is up from Triple-A Charlotte in his place. It’s the second IL stint of the season for Engel, who opened the year on the shelf with this same injury and missed almost two months of action. Engel joins fellow outfielder Adam Eaton, who is also dealing with a right hamstring strain, on the injured list, further depleting a White Sox outfield that is also without stars Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert. The 29-year-old Engel batted .241/.313/.552 in just 32 plate appearances between IL stints. The club didn’t place a timetable on his return, although this new IL stint was backdated to June 20.
- The Twins are still determining whether Byron Buxton’s fractured left hand will require surgery, manager Rocco Baldelli said prior to today’s game (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Uncertainty as to whether the injury will require surgical repair likely contributes to the vague response Baldelli have when initially prompted for a timetable on the injury to Buxton, who was hit on the left hand by a Tyler Mahle heater last night and found to have a boxer’s fracture. For now, the team is still “looking into the best approaches for recovery,” per Baldelli. It’s common for players to get opinions from multiple doctors and/or specialists when a potential surgery of any kind is on the table.
Some of these guys just can’t catch a break. Engel and Buxton both very solid players when healthy but can’t seem to ever be healthy.
Using the same description of Engel’s and Buxton’s talent levels “when healthy” is very flattering to Engel.
This season has been maddening for the Sox in regards to injuries. Yes, depth (especially in the OF) was a concern for the Sox, but no team in MLB has that kind of OF depth to replace their top 4 OF with relative ease. One could argue Eloy and Robert are the best two hitters on the team. How do you replace that? You really can’t, without taking serious hits elsewhere.
Luckily they’re playing a bunch of laughing stocks until the ASB. 2 with PITT, 3 with SEA, 7 with MINNY, 3 with DET, and 3 with BALT. Thank God for that.
Pleased as punch about last weekend, but for your sake, I’m sorry about what my Astros just did to you. You went up against a juggernaut there, at absolute peak performance.
@Naunced Jamesian
Yes, that was a severe beating the Astros put on the Sox this past weekend. The Astros definitely looked the part of a playoff team, much more than the Sox did.
I did NOT see that coming; but Astros in one of those phases where it never occurs to anybody on the team that a loss is a possibility. 🙂
If it helps, Astros got 3-game swept by Tigers(!!!!!!) back in April, by combined score of 20-8
You don’t have to try to make us feel better. The Yankees got swept by those same Tigers. Sweeps happen to good teams because every last team goes through a bad stretch at some point in the season, just like every team gets hot at some point. Both teams will likely make the playoffs; hopefully, the Sox will be a little healthier then. There might even be a rematch.
Wrong call-up, Chicago. Should have been Sheets. Gonzalez hasn’t exactly been tearing it up in Charlotte.
I assume they didn’t do that because Gonzalez can play center, but I’d rather have Sheets, or even Rutherford before Gonzalez.
Not a big fan of that move either. I agree, bring up Sheets.
Though I will say, we might actually get an upclose look at Gonzalez this time around. He’s only had 1 career AB in 4 career MLB games. Ohterwise, why bother with him if he’s just going to ride the bench the entire stint?
@83, I agree with that. He hasn’t gotten anything resembling a real chance yet. No point in having players you won’t use.
I would’ve rather had Sheets too but I think it has to do with the player options with it being this early in the season.
Gonzalez and Sheets can both go up and down all year and only have one option used.
Leury is probably next for IL. He’s been nursing an injury.
So without the Adams, Hamilton and Robert, the team has no true outfielders beside Goodwin, and no one that can even fake playing CF if he gets hurt.
This was only move to make.
@maximumvelocity
I forgot about Hamilton. That’s their top 5 OF (well, 5 of 6 if you consider Leury better than Hamilton, or even Eaton at this point). If Leury were to hit the IL, that would be theoretically the entire OF depth of a MLB team on the IL (if all 6 were healthy).
It’s a testament to their SP that they are 14 above .500 (though it wasn’t their best display of pitching this weekend–though the Astros have a very strong offense).
If they are able to somehow keep rolling despite the logjam on the IL (short and 60-day) to the ASB, that would be huge. That’s a pretty tall order, even playing laughing stocks all the way up to the ASB.
Hahn’s negotiating position keeps taking a hit as the regular position players drop like flies. Their lineup currently looks like that of a rebuilding team outside of Anderson/Abreu (and Moncada when he isn’t the ill version).
White Sox and Mets could combine teams and still might not have a major league-quality outfield.
Someone in Red is going to get thrown at in Minnesota tonight.
They are playing right now
Was there any indication Mahle plunked Buxton on purpose?
No, but the fact its their star player and he JUST got back from the IL after an insane start to the year. I hope they don’t hit a player on purpose but ya know how dat shi goez.
Only person hit in this game was Cruz on Minnesota.
With a 70 mph breaking pitch. Both Cruz and Miley were laughing. Ex-teammates
I hope WS actually give Gonzalez a shot this time, especially since Garcia is hurt and Lamb is awful in field.
If they think he is so bad that he doesn’t warrant a few starts, they need to cut him. If not, take him out of the wrapper, and play him.
Lamb is awful period…
@chisox81
Sad thing is Lamb might be their best hitting OF right now. Well, him or Goodwin, I guess. Oh boy.
I keep hoping Vaughn will break out at any time, but he just will not. Hopefully bringing him up OD (and keeping him up) didn’t mess him up long-term. They can’t really send him down now, with their crowd of players on the IL. With any luck, maybe he will pull a Yoan/Eloy and figure it out late in his rookie year. Until then…ugh.
Vaughn is doing best he can. No reps above A-ball plus playing position he hasn’t ever is a lot to ask. He’s been an average player, which is all you can expect.
@83, keep in mind that Vlad, Jr., who was regarded well above Vaughn in hitting, had an OPS+ of 106 his first year and 116 his second. Solid, but not exactly amazing. Vaughn is at 94 right now, with plenty of season left to get that up over 100. I’m not saying his track will follow Vlad’s, but it may take a couple years for him to really figure it out. I never expected anything above what he’s doing this year. Considering he’s learning a new position and not playing every day, I’d say he’s doing just fine.
This is absolutely obscene at this point from the White Sox. They are going to be tapping Kannapolis for OF help by August at this rate.
The 2021 White Sox are definitely hamstrung!
I have said it before and Ill say it again, this White Sox conditioning staff needs to be fired, or at least changes need to be made. WAYYYYYYY too many hamstring and soft tissue injuries.. WAYYY too many!
Cincy needs both Antone and Gray to get healthy and stay healthy. Antone is one of the best relievers in BB, and Gray is a stud in the rotation. Hopefully, Vlad, Santillan, and/or Hoffman can make a successful transition to the bullpen.
Why don’t trainers get fired during the season? Seems like a tremendous amount of leg injuries to this team. They should bring Herm Schneider out of retirement.
I am all for critiquing the trainers, but I think a lot of this has to do with COVID, because injuries are up across the league.
Not saying it has to do with the virus, but the fact that players pretty much had an entire year where their regular training routines were disrupted. They barely played last year, and facilities were largely not available until the beginning of ‘Spring Training.
Hamstring injuries are pretty common for people who stopped working out normally, and then started again without accommodating for the fact that their body couldn’t do what it did in the past.
For an average athlete, that probably results in a typical pulled muscle, but for an elite athlete who is still in pretty solid shape overall, the combination of factors probably results in more catastrophic injuries.
Now, good trainers should have been ready for this, because everyone has players who have to sit out a year or more because of injuries, so they deserve scrutiny, but I also think they aren’t use to dealing with players who aren’t necessarily injured. It’s a strange period to be a trainer in every sport.
Well If it were the beginning of the season I would agree, but its not. Players should be good to go and be taking care of themselves by now (and trainers should have routines set), short season last season or not (and the Sox also had a rash of such injuries last year as well if I recall). Now, could this also fall on the players for maybe not heeding the conditioning staffs warnings? Sure, Its possible, but really the conditioning and training staff really have one job to do: Ensure the players that can play are ready every day