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Tommy Pham Suspended For Three Games Over Altercation With Joc Pederson

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Reds outfielder Tommy Pham told reporters (including The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith) that he has been issued a three-game suspension for an altercation with the Giants’ Joc Pederson prior to last night’s game.  The suspension began with last night’s contest, so Pham will miss the entirety of the Reds’ series with San Francisco.  The league has officially announced the suspension, adding that Pham has also been issued a fine.

The incident took place during Friday’s batting practice, with Pederson telling reporters (including John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle) that Pham approached Pederson in the outfield and eventually slapped him across the face during the confrontation.  Adding to the bizarre nature of the situation, Pederson said Pham was upset over a past dispute in a fantasy football league from over a year ago, based on what players were or weren’t allowed to be placed on the injured reserve list as per the fantasy league’s rules.

Pham had a different take, saying that he took issue both with Pederson’s fantasy football actions and also some “disrespectful” comments Pederson allegedly made about the Padres, Pham’s former team.

“I didn’t like that, and I didn’t like the sketchy shit going on in the fantasy league.  We’ve got too much money on the line, and I look at it like there’s a code,” Pham said.

The Reds initially had Pham in their starting lineup on Friday, though while the game was delayed for over two hours due to weather, Pham was scratched from the lineup.  Pham said that during the delay, he was “getting pressured from MLB” as part of the league’s investigation into the incident, and he agreed to a three-game suspension for the duration of the series with the Giants.

Reds Select Graham Ashcraft

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The Reds announced they’ve selected pitching prospect Graham Ashcraft onto the roster to make tonight’s start against the Giants. They also reinstated veteran lefty Ross Detwiler from bereavement leave, optioning corner infielder Colin Moran and reliever Jared Solomon to Triple-A Louisville in corresponding moves. To create space for Ashcraft on the 40-man roster, southpaw Justin Wilson has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

It’s the second time Ashcraft has been called to the majors, but he’ll be in line for a much longer stint this time around. The 24-year-old first came up as a designated COVID-19 substitute for a series in Toronto, as the Reds placed a handful of players on the restricted list due to their vaccination status. That designation allowed Cincinnati to send him back to the minor leagues and off the 40-man roster without passing through waivers after one start. Ashcraft worked 4 1/3 innings during his MLB debut, allowing two runs with a trio of strikeouts.

A sixth round selection in the 2019 draft, Ashcraft has been impressive enough in the minors to jump into Baseball America’s list of top Reds prospects, coming in at #30 last year and jumping all the way to #9 this year. Last year, he split his time between High-A and Double-A, throwing 111 combined innings with an even 3.00 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. He got bumped up to Triple-A this year and has thrown 32 2/3 frames so far with a 1.65 ERA. His 20% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate are actually not that impressive, though he’s succeeding thanks to an incredible 71.4% ground ball rate.

Connor Overton recently landed on the injured list, joining Mike Minor, Nick Lodolo and Justin Dunn as the Reds’ starters out of action. Minor is on rehab and is expected back soon, joining Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Hunter Greene and Vladimir Gutierrez in the rotation. Despite that, it doesn’t seem like this is a mere spot start for Ashcraft, with manager David Bell telling reports (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that he’ll stick in the rotation going forward. That means that the club either plans on carrying a six-man rotation for a while, or someone else will be getting the bump.

As for Wilson, he was placed on the injured list April 27 due to soreness in his left elbow. With this transfer, he’ll be ineligible to return to the big league club until 60 days from that original placement, which would be late June. The lefty exercised a $2.3MM player option for this year, which was a part of the deal he originally signed with the Yankees. He’s only been able to throw 3 2/3 innings so far this year and will now be out for at least another month.

Reds Select Aristides Aquino, Albert Almora

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It’s been a whirlwind day of transactions for the Reds, who earlier today returned the trio of Aristides Aquino, Graham Ashcraft and Taylor Motter to Triple-A Louisville when they reinstated a handful of players from the restricted list following their series in Toronto. Aquino, however, has now been formally selected to the 40-man roster, per a team announcement, as has outfielder Albert Almora Jr. The Reds will place righty Connor Overton on the 60-day injured list to open one roster spot and will move infielder Donovan Solano from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to create a second one. Cincinnati also activated Nick Senzel from the injured list and optioned fellow outfielder TJ Friedl to Triple-A Louisville to open an active roster spot.

It’s been a busy day at Great American Ball Park, to say the least. The Reds found out that Overton, who’s made four strong starts for them after signing a minor league contract over the offseason, will be shut down for the next six to eight weeks due to a stress reaction in his back (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon). That period of six to eight weeks is not a total timetable for Overton’s return but rather the time he’ll go without picking up a ball. In all likelihood, he’ll need several more weeks to build up his arm strength once that shutdown period is over.

Based on that newly provided timeline for Overton, it seems as though Overton is due for a months-long absence. He’d tossed 24 2/3 innings of 1.82 ERA ball to begin his time with the Reds, and while his .208 BABIP and minuscule 11.1% strikeout rate pointed to some likely regression, his absence will nonetheless further thin out an already injury-depleted rotation mix. Trade acquisitions Mike Minor and Justin Dunn have yet to pitch for the Reds thanks to shoulder troubles, and a lower back strain has shelved top prospect Nick Lodolo just a few starts into his MLB debut campaign.

As for the newly selected outfielders, neither is a stranger to the Reds’ outfield. That’s particularly true of Aquino, who set the baseball world ablaze when he ripped 14 home runs in August 2019 after being summoned to the Majors. Since that jaw-dropping debut month, however, Aquino has batted just .177/.264/.361 with a 36.2% strikeout rate in 407 plate appearances.

Almora, meanwhile, has logged nine games for the Reds already this season (primarily as a Covid substitute) and hit well n 29 plate appearances: .296/.321/.370. A longtime division rival with the Cubs, he’s a lifetime .266/.303/.388 hitter in the Majors. That includes a solid 2016-17 run to begin his career, however. Dating back to Opening Day 2018, Almora owns a more tepid .253/.291/.361 output.

Reds’ Connor Overton Diagnosed With Stress Reaction In Back

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Reds starter Connor Overton has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his lower back, he tells Mark Sheldon of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’s expecting to be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks.

Overton has earned a spot in the Cincinnati rotation in recent weeks. Signed to a minor league contract over the offseason, he was selected onto the big league club on the final day of April. The 28-year-old has since taken four turns through a rotation that has been without rookie left-hander Nick Lodolo due to a lower back strain. Overton has averaged north of six innings per start, tossing 24 2/3 cumulative frames with an impressive 1.82 ERA.

That run prevention mark was sure to rise, as the soft-tossing Overton isn’t missing many bats. He’s fanned only 11.2% of opposing hitters on a minuscule 5.3% swinging strike rate. The Old Dominion product has filled up the strike zone and induced a fair amount of harmless infield fly balls, though, leading to some early success. Overton was also excellent over four appearances with Triple-A Louisville, posting a 2.84 ERA with elite strikeout and walk numbers (29.7% and 2.7%, respectively) across 19 innings.

Cincinnati is soon to welcome back veteran southpaw Mike Minor from an injured list stint that has cost him the entire season to date. Minor is on a rehab assignment with Louisville, where he’s taken the ball three times. Manager David Bell told reporters (including C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic) that Minor will need one more start with the Bats before returning to the big leagues.

The Reds play on each of the next seven days, so they’ll need to cover one of Overton’s scheduled outings with a bullpen game or a spot start. By next week, it seems Minor might be able to step into the starting staff alongside Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Hunter Greene and Vladimir Gutiérrez.

Reds Return Aquino, Ashcraft, Motter To Minors

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MAY 23: As expected, Cincinnati announced this morning that Mahle, Almora, Kuhnel and Drury have been reinstated from the restricted list before tonight’s series opener with the Cubs. Aquino, Aschraft and Motter have been returned to the minors and are no longer on the 40-man roster.

MAY 20: The Reds announced a host of roster moves before their series against the Blue Jays. First baseman Joey Votto has been reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list. Outfielder Aristides Aquino, righty Graham Ashcraft and utilityman Taylor Motter have all been selected to the majors as designated COVID “substitutes.”

Cincinnati placed four players — Tyler Mahle, Albert Almora Jr., Joel Kuhnel and Brandon Drury — on the restricted list. That’s standard procedure for players who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 playing on teams that are headed to Toronto. The Canadian government prohibits unvaccinated players from entering the country, so that quartet will be unavailable for this weekend’s series.

Votto returns after missing more than two weeks because of virus concerns. The six-time All-Star began experiencing COVID symptoms during the first week of May, and he wound up missing enough time the organization sent him on a brief minor league rehab assignment. After a pair of appearances with Triple-A Louisville, the Toronto native returns for a set against his hometown club. He’ll look to right the ship offensively after the time off; Votto has opened the season in a dreadful .122/.278/.135 slump through 22 games.

Aquino, Motter and Ashcraft all occupy temporary spots on the roster. That the club specified they were COVID substitutes suggests it’s likely to be a brief stint for all three. Players whose contracts are selected with that designation can be removed from the 40-man roster and returned to the minors without passing through waivers as the team returns to full strength. In the Reds’ case, that’ll be after this series, so each of Aquino, Motter and Ashcraft is probably only up for three days.

The righty-hitting Aquino opened the year in the majors but got out to an awful start. He was outrighted off the roster earlier this month, but he’s tattooed Triple-A pitching (.314/.405/.743 with four homers) through ten games. Motter signed a minor league deal last month. The righty-hitting utilityman is hitting .245/.344/.566 with Louisville and offers some multi-positional depth in Drury’s place.

While this figures to be a brief stint for Ashcraft, the 24-year-old will probably play a notable role on the roster before too long. A sixth-round pick out of UAB in 2019, the 6’2″ hurler has quickly developed into one of the better arms in the farm system. Ashcraft split last season between High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga, posting an even 3.00 ERA across 111 innings. He’s spent this year with Louisville, working to a 1.65 ERA over seven starts, albeit without great strikeout or walk numbers.

Baseball America recently ranked Ashcraft the #12 prospect in the Cincinnati organization, praising a mid-90s cut fastball that serves as his primary offering. Both BA and FanGraphs — which slotted him #17 in the system — suggest that Ashcraft’s below-average changeup and inconsistent control point to a long-term bullpen future, but he’s remained a starter to this point as a pro. Ashcraft will have to be added to the 40-man roster next offseason to keep him from selection in the Rule 5 draft, and potential trades by the last-place Reds could open an extended opportunity for him later this summer.

Cincinnati also announced that shortstop José Barrero will begin a rehab assignment with the Bats. The club’s anticipated regular shortstop, he hasn’t played this season after suffering a hamate injury during Spring Training. Position players can spend up to 20 days on rehab assignments, suggesting Barrero’s set to make his 2022 debut within the next three weeks assuming all goes well in the minors.

Mets Scouting Frankie Montas, Tyler Mahle

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The Mets have recently had scouts watching Athletics right-hander Frankie Montas and Reds right-hander Tyler Mahle, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports.  With the aggressive Mets clearly focused on a championship this year, it isn’t surprising that the club is already looking ahead to possible trade candidates on struggling teams.

Montas is over 18 months older than Mahle, but the two have quite a bit in common.  The two righties are under control through the 2023 season via a third and final arbitration year, both have already been mentioned in trade speculation for months, and both have already made it through an offseason of payroll cuts by their respective teams.  In fact, the Mets and A’s already combined on a big pitching deal during the offseason when Chris Bassitt was brought to Queens.

Thus far in 2022, Montas has clearly been the better of the two pitchers in terms of bottom-line numbers, with a 3.67 ERA in 49 innings to Mahle’s 5.23 ERA over 43 innings.  The advanced metrics also generally favor Montas, though Mahle’s 4.28 xFIP and 4.15 SIERA paint a bit more of an optimistic view of his 2022 performance, and Mahle appears to be on the upswing with a 2.60 ERA over his last 17 1/3 frames.

It stands to reason that the Mets will probably at least monitor just about every available arm heading into the August 2 deadline, considering that Montas and Mahle figure to get attention from most or all pitching-needy clubs.  Oakland or Cincinnati probably have some idea of what some suitors are already willing to give up for either pitcher, based on offseason talks — the White Sox, Twins, Yankees, Tigers, Mariners, Rays, and Royals all reportedly had interest in Montas over the winter, while the Blue Jays and Rangers were linked to Mahle.

Despite a number of rotation injuries this season, the Mets have gotten quality work from just about every starter who has taken the mound.  However, health remains a concern, as Max Scherzer will miss 6-8 weeks with an oblique strain, Tylor Megill is on the IL with biceps inflammation, and Jacob deGrom has yet to throw a pitch this season due to a stress reaction his throwing shoulder.  Jumping to swing a deal with the Reds or A’s now would cost the Mets a heavier price in prospects, and it could be that New York will wait until closer to the deadline to make a move, as the Mets already have a sizeable cushion of a lead in the NL East race.

Reds’ Robert Dugger Clears Waivers, Accepts Outright Assignment

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Reds righty Robert Dugger went unclaimed on outright waivers following his second DFA of the month and has accepted another outright assignment to Triple-A Louisville, per Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link).

As a player who’s previously been outrighted, Dugger could’ve rejected the assignment and ventured out into free agency. However, after a whirlwind series of transactions that’s seen him thrice designated for assignment this month alone, he’ll opt for the more stable route and head to Louisville in hopes of a swift return to the big leagues.

Dugger, 26, opened the season in the Rays organization after signing a minor league deal in late March. He was selected to the big league roster on May 1 and promptly gave Tampa Bay 5 1/3 innings of long relief (eight hits, three runs, no walks, seven strikeouts), only to be designated for assignment the following day. The Reds claimed Dugger and deployed him for three innings of long relief themselves (three runs, five hits, one walk, five punchouts). Again, Dugger was designated for assignment the following day. Cincinnati added him to the 40-man roster a second time on May 12 but designated him for assignment a third time on May 14, before he’d appeared in a game.

An 18th-round pick of the Mariners back in 2016, Dugger has spent parts of the past four seasons in the Majors but never appeared in more than a dozen games in any given season. He’s been hit hard in 79 Major League frames, evidenced by a 7.29 ERA, and his Triple-A track record is spotty as well. Dugger posted solid numbers up through the Double-A level, however, and scouting reports during his prospect days credited him with a pair of average or better breaking balls and above-average command. He’s intrigued enough that four teams have now put him on a 40-man roster over the past four seasons — Marlins, Mariners, Rays and Reds — but the righty is still searching for his first prolonged bit of success at the game’s upper levels.

Reds Notes: Greene, Stephenson

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The Pirates’ 1-0 win over the Reds today will go down perhaps the most unusual game of the 2022 season, as Pittsburgh won without a single hit.  Reds starter Hunter Greene tossed 7 1/3 innings of hitless ball, but was pulled after 118 pitches and after issuing consecutive walks during the eighth inning.  Reliever Art Warren entered the game and issued another walk, then Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in the game’s only run via a fielder’s choice.  The Reds lineup, meanwhile, was held to only four hits, with Bucs starter Jose Quintana doing much of the work in shutting Cincinnati out over seven innings.

Since the Bucs didn’t need to bat in the bottom of the ninth, the official threshold of nine hitless innings wasn’t met, so Greene and Warren won’t be credited with a no-hitter.  This oddity marks just the sixth time since 1901 that a team has won despite going hitless, and ironically, the Reds were on the other side of the equation in the first such instance.  Back on April 23, 1964, the Reds collected a 1-0 win over the Houston Colt .45s even though Houston’s Ken Johnson held Cincinnati hitless over nine full innings of work — a pair of ninth-inning errors led to the Reds’ only run.

  • Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson cleared concussion protocol after being hit in the mask with a foul ball during Saturday’s game.  Stephenson didn’t play today but isn’t expected to miss much time, even though the team will be cautious given that Stephenson already missed two weeks with a concussion earlier this season.  Manager David Bell told reporters (including The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith) that the Reds are working with Stephenson on finding new types of masks and padded helmets, and the club is committed to keeping Stephenson behind the plate.  Joey Votto already has first base spoken for anyway, plus Stephenson’s bat is more valuable from the catcher position than at first base.  However, with three concussions already in his career, Stephenson and the Reds can only hope that a position switch doesn’t eventually become a necessity for health reasons.
  • In some Cubs-related injury news, Alec Mills will toss a live batting practice session on Tuesday.  (Meghan Montemurro of The Chicago Tribune was among those to report the news.)  Mills has yet to pitch this season due to a lower back strain, and he made one minor league rehab outing before being set back by quad tightness.  David Bote (shoulder surgery) and Clint Frazier (appendectomy) are both expected to start their own rehab assignments within a few days.  Frazier told Montemurro that he believes he’ll need five games to ramp up, which would put him on target to rejoin the Cubs when they begin a series with the Reds on May 23.

Joey Votto Begins Rehab Assignment

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Decked out in a snazzy Dr. Strange jersey for a “Marvel Night” promotion, Joey Votto played the first game of a rehab assignment at Triple-A Louisville tonight.  Votto was placed on the COVID-related injured list on May 3, and Reds manager David Bell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) that “it’s really hard for me to know” exactly how long Votto’s rehab assignment will last.  The veteran slugger will play today and tomorrow for the Bats, and Bell seemed to imply that it could be a somewhat lengthy stint, saying “it was encouraging that he’s playing tonight.  Not too long ago, he wasn’t feeling well.”

Sheldon believes Votto could be activated from the IL when the Reds visit his hometown of Toronto on May 20-22.  Obviously the top priority is simply that Votto is healthy and can get properly prepared for his return, but this absence could also serve as a reset for the 38-year-old’s season.  Pretty much everything has gone wrong for the Reds thus far in 2022, including Votto’s ice-cold .122/.278/.135 slash line over his first 90 plate appearances.

Reds Select Ross Detwiler, Designate Robert Dugger

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The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Ross Detwiler. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, righty Robert Dugger has been designated for assignment.

Detwiler, 36, has appeared in 13 MLB seasons dating back to 2007. Last year, he pitched for both the Marlins and the Padres, logging 52 1/3 frames with a 4.64 ERA. Working with a changed pitch mix, Detwiller completely altered his profile last year. Swapping out sinkers for four-seam fastballs, he sacrificed grounders but gained strikeouts. After getting worm burners above 50% for three years in a row from 2018-2020, it dropped to 39.9 in 2021. His strikeout rate, which had been around 15% for most of his career, jumped to 27.1% last year.

Signed by the Reds to a minor league deal in April, the southpaw has thrown seven innings for the Triple-A Louisville Bats. That’s obviously a tiny sample size, but he has a 3.86 ERA with a 40% ground ball rate, 21.9% strikeout rate and 15.6% walk rate. With Justin Wilson on the IL and Phillip Diehl designated for assignment last week, the club has been without a lefty in the bullpen until they added Detwiler today.

As for Dugger, this is his third time being designated for assignment in the past couple of weeks. He was selected by the Rays at the beginning of May and given 5 1/3 innings of mop-up duty just before the roster size was set to shrink from 28 to 26. After that outing, he was put on waivers and claimed by the Reds. Cincy gave him three more innings of mop-up work, designated him again, outrighted him to Triple-A and then selected his contract two days later. This time, he’s sent back out into DFA limbo without the mop-up duty, as he still just has the two appearances on the year.

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