Due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Jonathan India was placed on the Reds’ 10-day injured list back on July 29. The second baseman was initially hopeful that just a minimal 10-day break was all that was required to get him back onto the field, yet now the rest of India’s season could be in question. As manager David Bell and GM Nick Krall told reporters (including The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer), another MRI revealed that the tear in India’s plantar fascia has gotten worse, resulting in more discomfort for India.
More tests and a second medical opinion is forthcoming, yet for now, Bell said India will be shut down from running for the next two weeks. From there, India will then begin a rehab period that should last 10-14 days, so the second baseman will now miss at least a portion of September. Bell acknowledged that this timeline represents a best-case scenario, and Krall described the situation as “wait-and-see,” so there is definitely plenty of uncertainty surrounding whether or not India can return before the 2023 campaign is over.
“My message to [India] was to sit out the two weeks and then do everything we can to get you back for the end of the season and the playoffs. There’s still a lot left to shoot for to get back for, even if it is towards the end of the season,” Bell said.
Ominously, India said in July that he finally opted to go on the 10-day IL since “I can’t make this worse. If it’s worse, I’m out the whole year.” Two weeks later, it seems as though this exact scenario might have happened, if the plantar fascia tear has become even more of an issue. India’s previous attempt to fight through the pain was clearly having an adverse effect on his play, as he had hit only .202/.287/.333 in his last 129 plate appearances prior to his IL placement.
Even with India struggling, the Reds as a whole didn’t start to stumble until India was actually gone from the active roster. Cincinnati is 2-8 in the month of August, going from the NL Central lead at the start of the month to falling into third place between the division-leading Brewers and the red-hot Cubs. A lack of pitching has been the bigger issue than the lineup with or without India, but the Reds will need all hands on deck on both the pitching and hitting fronts if they are to end this skid and get back into a playoff position. If the Reds have fallen further out of the race by mid-September and India still hasn’t made clear progress in his recovery, it seems quite possible that the team could shut him down entirely until Spring Training.
With so many good young position players joining the team, the Reds technically haven’t had a problem filling in for India, as Matt McLain has played second base, Elly De La Cruz has played shortstop, and Spencer Steer has gotten a large portion of the time at third base. This looks to be the preferred alignment for the rest of the season until India is back, leaving Cincinnati even more reliant on its young core group. Though India is only in his third MLB season, he has quickly become a leader within the Reds’ clubhouse, so his absence creates a void even beyond his on-field contributions.
Hopefully he can make it back healthy this season. I feel like the team is missing him.
Let’s hope this dude grows a foot…Do I remember India was trade bait? Thought I read it.
Weirdly may not be a bad thing….
He was struggling the last 3 months way before the injury but is still a major attribute & leader to the team & in the locker room….
This allows the Reds to utilize their best young infield lineup (to go along with the the old guy).
But we really need Frailey back to make it work on this next run we’re about to make…
Votto – 1B
McLain -2B
Elly – SS
Steer – 3B
CES – DH
Friedle – CF
Benson – LF
Frailey/Fairchild – RF
Stephenson/Mahle – C
It’s not a coincidence the Reds slide began with the failure of the front office at the trade deadline and the loss of India.
Not everything is about stats.
The hitting was hot prior to the break. I know from experience that a break in action when a team is hot in any sport will often turn the team cold. That being said, the pitching staff was extremely fortunate to do as well as they did with the injuries and limited pitching talent. Now we are waiting for some of the young hitters to counter adjust after the pitching around the league has made adjustments. We have a lot of relief candidates scheduled to come off the DL as well as a couple of starters., so things should pick up going forward. The questions are how soon and how much..
Agree…. I’m still optimistic we can make another run, especially in September.. We just need to stay around 2-3 games in the standings…
Or maybe we had more rookies than ever contributing to the success of this team early on & several started hitting a rookie wall.
They call it the dog days of summer for a reason….
Stats maybe don’t mean everything but they also DON’T LIE…. It was our rookies (Elly, McLain & Steer) that carried us through our winning streak NOT India so it’s no coincidence that when these rookies starting falling off a bit so did the team…
I like India a lot I really really do but it’s insane to me how many fans continue to believe that losing a guy whose barley batted over .200 the last 2 months is the main reason we started losing…
Doesn’t help Fairchild continues to see the field for no earthly reason.
Benson and Fraley (when he’s healthy) have terrible splits versus LHP. With Steer mostly playing the infield right now and Senzel sent to AAA, there’s plenty of reason to play Fairchild against lefties. Plus he’s a good defender at all 3 OF positions.
That, and there is no other option right now.
Senzel was a better option currently, and Ramos showed tonight he deserves those at bats too.
testing
If you want to go with stats, India batted .280 in the leadoff spot. The downturn began when they moved him to third.
Again, not everything is black and white despite what stat boys think.
Ok if you want to go the stat route let’s use a real sample size to get legitimate numbers.
In 2022 he played in 103 games & (what do you know) in 2023 he’s played in exactly 103 games as well…
In 2022 he had a .249 BA; in 2023 he has a .251 BA….
So pretty solid sample size & over the last 2 years (206 games) he’s basically been a .250 hitter with roughly a .329 OBP, which is not terrible but still pretty meh…
He also rates slightly below average defensively & at the time he got hurt was tied for 5th in the league with grounding into double plays…
Again I actually like India being on this team but let’s stop with this notion he was the reason we were winning before he went on the IL…
Looking forward to next season, the infield has two players too many if Marte moves up. He likely moves to the OF with India being the most likely to be traded. That would leave Steer at 3B, De La Cruz at SS , McClain at 2B and CES at 1B. You could keep India and let him DH to help his plantar fasciiatis.
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Yeah kinda think the may have Marte play 3rd & Steer outfield since he’s been working there some…
It’ll also be fascinating to see what they do with Votto…. Obviously I don’t think they’re going to pick up his option but part of me wonders with the way he’s been going if they’ll buy him out & then try to bring him back on a much lower 1-2 million dollar deal next year for 1 last ride next year….
That might be an option with Votto.
The Nationals did that with Ryan Zimmerman – they bought out the option on the end of his long-term contract, then brought him back in the spring at $1M. That approach also helps with roster management over the offseason, since it clears a 40-man spot until they sign the new contract.
He played hurt most of 2022 and it was obvious something was wrong when he dipped this year. Plantar fascitis is nothing to fool around with.
Sometimes you have to look beyond numbers or actually, you know, watch the games and use your eyes.
I actually see him leading off and being a DH next year when healthy. He is an ignitor in that position and you might want to keep him around until some people prove themselves.
Also, a lot of you seem to think Marte is a superstar already and he is just a prospect/suspect until he proves something. You might want to think twice before putting all your eggs in that basket. I hope the kid GM is smart enough to do that but his history of assembling a competent experienced major league roster doesn’t give me hope.
Here’s the funny thing I get the sense you think I’m all about stats…. I’m actually not at all (they’re just a tool) & I agree they can sometimes be way over used….
I actually watch the games & think India is a fine player but that’s it…. IMO he’s an OK hitter (who can get hot occasionally but also have extended slumps), he’s an OK defender, he has OK power & OK speed…. when I watch the Reds (which I do regularly), I honestly see an OK player, which is not a bad thing,,,,
But I do get tired of the “he’s got grit crowd” or “he’s tough crowd” or “he’s a leader crowd” pretending he’s Mickie Mantle and dismissing his average play because of his supposed intangibles…
I think he’s a fine player whose been pretty average the last 2 years AND the when I go look up the stats they kind a confirm what I’ve been watching with my own eyes for the 2 years….
I have had it in both feet. You don’t get over it in a few weeks or sometimes a few months. You have to stay off your feet as much as possible, get arch supports(orthodics) and stretch both the plantar fascia and achilles tendons.daily( the latter for the rest of your life). A tight achilles tendon puts pressure on the plantar fascia tendon.. Once you get over the initial pain and swelling, one can usually resume a normal life if they religiously practice the above.
Yeah, when I heard the diagnosis, I didn’t think it would be just 10 days. I have been around guys who had this before. My wife is a nurse and pretty much said the same.
Reds ownership should be thanking India. He was the voice/face of the franchise since his ROY. He took all the criticism when the majority of it should be at the Castellini family.
Now they have tons of young talent that is on the MLB roster.
“trading” India or hinting about it- that is a unique way of treating a player who was the scapegoat for the bologna. They should have dealt Senzel.
India is a great person and baseball player. It’s business, I am sure he understood what was coming but never thought that it would be this early.
Hopefully he gets healed and able to help this year. If not, he may very well have played his last as a Red.
This injury probably erodes India’s trade value to the point that he remains with the Reds next year. His arb1 salary should be relatively cheap. Reds may want to see what he can do fully healthy in 2024. As we all saw at the trading deadline, Krall does not trade cheap.