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Reds Activate Joey Votto, Jonathan India, Hunter Greene

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The Reds announced six roster moves today, most prominently the returns of some of their biggest names.  Joey Votto and Jonathan India were both activated from the 10-day injured list, while Hunter Greene was activated from the COVID-related injured list.  Right-hander Lyon Richardson was optioned to Triple-A, while infielder Alejo Lopez and right-hander Carson Spiers (both on the roster as substitute players) were respectively returned to Triple-A and Double-A.

India last played on July 28, as a case of plantar fasciitis in his left foot resulted in a longer absence than expected on the IL, and there was at least some concern that the second baseman might have been sidelined for the rest of the 2023 season entirely.  However, the Reds’ rough planned timeline for India in mid-August ended up basically going to plan, so he’ll now look to step back into his normal duty at second base.  Votto has missed a little over two weeks due to left shoulder discomfort, and given Votto’s history of shoulder problems, it counts as very good news that the longtime first baseman is already back on the field.

Cincinnati’s waiver-wire additions of Hunter Renfroe and Harrison Bader have further added to what has become a bit of glut of position players for the Reds, though injuries have essentially kept the team’s list of options from becoming a true surplus.  Star rookie Matt McLain will still be out for at least another week or two in recovering from an oblique injury, and Noelvi Marte just suffered a broken nose yesterday after being hit in the face by an errant throw during pregame warmups.  Manager David Bell told reporters (including Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that Marte isn’t yet being placed on the IL since the rookie infielder will attempt to play through the discomfort, possibly wearing a protective mask.

With Marte a question mark, the Reds’ infield figures to shake out as Votto and Christian Encarnacion-Strand sharing first base and DH duty, India at second base, Elly De La Cruz at shortstop, and Spencer Steer probably taking the bulk of third base work.  If Marte is able to continue playing, Steer can split time at second base, third base, and in the corner outfield, which creates a bit of a logjam in the outfield but Steer’s playing time will certainly be prioritized given his strong numbers.

Greene is set to start today’s game against the Cardinals, with the right-hander set for his first action since August 30.  Greene was hit hard in his first two outings back from a 60-day IL stint (due to hip pain) before looking much sharper in that August 30th outing against the Giants, but Greene was then sidelined again by the COVID outbreak that has hit the Reds’ clubhouse in recent days.

Reds Select Michael Mariot

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The Reds announced that they have recalled right-hander Casey Legumina and selected the contract of righty Michael Mariot. In corresponding moves, righty Brett Kennedy was optioned to Triple-A while righty Lyon Richardson was returned to Triple-A. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster.

Mariot, 34, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2016. The Reds signed him to a minor league deal in June and selected him to the big league roster in July, though he was designated for assignment a day later without getting into a game. He cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment at that time, which now leads to his contract being selected a second time this year.

The Reds were already dealing with a large number of injuries but a recent COVID outbreak has exacerbated the issue, sending multiple pitchers to the injured list. That has required an almost-daily roster churn as they keep cycling fresh arms into the mix, with Mariot the latest to get the call.

He made 44 appearances in the big leagues back in the 2014 to 2016 period but hasn’t been back since, bouncing around on various minor league deals while also spending time in the Mexican League and Chinese Professional Baseball in Taiwan. He began 2023 with the Cleburne Railroaders of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball, posting a 5.06 ERA there but with 29 strikeouts and just five walks in 26 2/3 innings.

That led to a minor league deal with the Reds and he has since thrown 37 2/3 innings over nine appearances for Louisville with a 6.93 ERA and 14.3% strikeout rate. The Reds are going the opener route today, with reliever Tejay Antone scheduled to start, but Mariot could perhaps log some bulk innings in the middle of the game.

As for Richardson, the fact that he has been “returned” to Triple-A and not optioned is worth noting. He was called up as a COVID replacement player recently and has now been sent back down. Optioned pitchers normally cannot be recalled for another 15 days but that won’t apply in this unique situation. He is listed as Wednesday’s starter and should be added back to the roster in short order.

Reds Designate Alan Busenitz For Assignment, Reinstate Tejay Antone

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The Reds announced a batch of moves between games of today’s double-header. Right-hander Tejay Antone was reinstated from the 60-day injured list, righty Lyon Richardson was recalled and righty Carson Spiers has been added as a substitute player. Righties Fernando Cruz, Hunter Greene and Ben Lively were placed on the COVID-19 injured list, while outfielder TJ Hopkins was optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Right-hander Alan Busenitz was designated for assignment and righty Tony Santillan cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Louisville.

Antone is back on the MLB roster for the first time in over two years. The reliever was amidst a breakout 2021 showing, emerging as Cincinnati’s closer late in the season after throwing 33 2/3 innings of 2.14 ERA ball, before his UCL gave out. He underwent Tommy John surgery — the second of his career — and spent all of 2022 rehabbing.

The Reds expressed hope Antone would return by the start of the ’23 campaign. He suffered a setback over the offseason, announcing in February that he’d been diagnosed with a flexor strain. It didn’t require surgery but has cost him the first five months of the season.

Antone has been on a rehab stint since late July. He pitched twice at the club’s complex before heading to Triple-A Louisville for 12 appearances. He was solid if unexceptional for the Bats, turning in 12 innings of four-run ball while striking out 11 and walking five.

It’d be a lot to ask of Antone to immediately rediscover his 2021 form. Yet even average output would be welcome for a Cincinnati relief corps that ranks 15th with a 3.96 ERA and 25th with a 22.5% strikeout rate. The bullpen hasn’t been as catastrophic as it had been for the past two seasons, but it’s still a relative weak point on an offense-first Reds’ roster.

Spiers, 25, also steps into the relief corps, in his case for the first time. The Clemson product is in position to make his major league debut after turning in a 3.69 ERA through 83 innings as a swing option for Double-A Chattanooga. He’s striking out nearly 30% of opposing hitters against an elevated 11.3% walk rate.

Players designated as COVID substitutes are temporarily added to the roster. Spiers won’t assume a permanent spot on the 40-man roster and can be sent back to the minors without first clearing waivers. He’ll help cover for the trio of pitchers affected by an apparent virus spread in the clubhouse.

Busenitz will hit waivers in the next few days. The right-hander has been on and off the big league roster a few times since his contract was selected in mid-May. Busenitz has pitched just five times at the MLB level, allowing two runs in five innings during his first big league work since 2018. Over 43 frames with Louisville, he owns a 4.53 ERA with slightly worse than average strikeout and walk numbers.

Santillan clears waivers after being designated for assignment a few days ago. It’s his first career outright and he has less than three years of MLB service, so he’ll stick in the organization at Triple-A. If the Reds don’t add him back to the 40-man roster by the end of the season, he’d reach minor league free agency.

Reds Reinstate Hunter Greene From 60-Day Injured List

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The Reds have officially activated Hunter Greene from the 60-day injured list, as the right-hander will take the mound to start today’s game with the Blue Jays.  Right-hander Alan Busenitz was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move, and the Reds also added righty Lyon Richardson to the club’s taxi squad.

Greene last pitched in the majors on June 17, before recurring hip pain sidelined him for what became an absence of over two months.  Both Greene and the Reds wanted the young hurler to be at full strength before returning, so in theory, Greene should be fully recovered and ready to become a big part of Cincinnati’s push for a playoff berth (whether as a wild card or as the NL Central champions).

The starting rotation has been a weak point for the Reds all season, and the front office at least checked in on some notable trade candidates at the deadline but didn’t add any significant arms besides reliever Sam Moll.  Instead, the Reds are hoping to get a boost from their own injured pitchers returning to action, as besides Greene’s activation, Nick Lodolo and Ben Lively are also on minor league rehab assignments.

Greene is the biggest addition of the group, as despite his lengthy IL stint, he is still the Reds’ co-leader in pitching fWAR (1.8).  The former second overall pick had a respectable rookie season in 2022 and then pitched well over 73 1/3 innings this year, posting a 3.73 ERA and an excellent 31.4% strikeout rate.  However, Greene’s walk rate is below average and he has allowed a lot of hard contact, so he isn’t a surefire ace at this point in his career despite his promising beginning.  The Reds’ unexpected rise into contention has put a lot of extra pressure on the team’s young core as they begin their MLB careers, and Greene has more responsibility than most in trying to help stabilize the rotation.

Reds Promote Lyon Richardson

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The Reds announced this morning that they had recalled right-hander Lyon Richardson from Triple-A. Richardson, 23, is slated to make his big league debut when he takes the ball this afternoon for a start against the Nationals. To make room for Richardson on the active roster, right-hander Daniel Duarte was optioned to Triple-A.

Richardson, 23, entered the 2023 campaign as the Reds 13th best prospect according to Fangraphs, though five of the prospects ranked ahead of him have graduated to the big leagues since then. Richardson missed the entire 2022 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery but has broken back onto the scene in a big way this season, advancing from Single-A to Triple-A throughout the year. Overall, Richardson boasts a phenomenal 1.86 ERA in 58 innings of work across 19 starts with a staggering 35.2% strikeout rate against a 10% walk rate.

That limited innings total despite regular starts throughout the 2023 campaign comes as a result of the Reds seemingly being careful not to overwork Richardson as he returns from surgery; his pitch count in each start has typically been capped around 50 pitches, with his peak this season standing at just 76. Should Richardson stick on the roster beyond today’s start, those pitch count limitations would seem to indicate he’s more likely to be limited to multi-inning relief appearances rather than continue as a member of the starting rotation going forward.

Making room for Richardson on the active roster is right-hander Daniel Duarte, who has posted a 4.08 ERA (116 ERA+) in 17 2/3 innings of work with the Reds this season, albeit with a less inspiring 5.48 FIP. Duarte heads back to the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville for the time being, where he owns a 3.38 ERA in 27 appearances this season, but figures to contribute in Cincinnati down the stretch as a young, optionable bullpen piece.

Reds Place Jake Fraley On 10-Day Injured List

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2:58PM: Reds manager David Bell spoke with The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith and other reporters about Fraley’s injury, saying a play in Thursday’s game “re-aggravated” the issue and “pushed him to a point where it’s a different type of pain.”  In terms of when the outfielder might be back, “we still haven’t pinpointed a time frame, which is actually good.  He’s still trying to get all the information.  In [Fraley’s] mind, he’s trying to get back in a few weeks, which is great.  That’s how I’m going to think about it.”

10:10AM: The Reds placed outfielder Jake Fraley on the 10-day injured list due to a stress fracture in his left fourth toe.  The club also announced that outfielder TJ Hopkins was called up from Triple-A, and that right-hander Lyon Richardson was added to the taxi squad in advance of his planned start on Sunday.

The IL placement is retroactive to August 4, as Fraley didn’t play in Cincinnati’s 6-3 loss to Washington yesterday.  The nature and severity of the injury isn’t yet known, but it would certainly seem like Fraley will miss well beyond 10 days, leaving a notable hole in the Reds lineup.  This is the second straight year that Fraley has been sidelined by a toe injury, as while rehabbing a knee injury in 2022, his time on the IL was extended due to a toe issue suffered during rehab.

Between the injuries and the fact that the Reds use Fraley almost exclusively against right-handed pitching, he has played in only 160 games since Cincinnati acquired the outfielder as part of the Eugenio Suarez/Jesse Winker trade with the Mariners in March 2022.  When he has been able to play, however, Fraley has been a productive bat, hitting .261/.345/.467 with 27 homers over 574 plate appearances — that works out to a 116 wRC+ over essentially the equivalent of one full season.  Playing both corner outfield positions, Fraley has been a very useful platoon option for the Reds to mix and match in their outfield.

Hopkins has a .367 OPS over 25 PA in his rookie season, plus as a right-handed bat, he’s an imperfect fill-in option for Fraley’s specific role.  Nick Senzel and Stuart Fairchild (also right-handed hitters) figure to get more playing time in Fraley’s absence, or the Reds could continue to give Spencer Steer regular looks in left field.

As much as the Reds’ influx of young talent was seemingly going to create a crunch for playing time, injuries have now provided an unfortunate solution to that issue.  Fraley joins Jonathan India on the 10-day IL, and while India was at least hopeful of a quick return, Cincinnati is now missing two experienced bats in the midst of a playoff race.  The Reds are on a four-game losing streak, and are 9-12 since the All-Star break.

Reds Select Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte And Four Others, DFA Six Players

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The Reds have selected the contracts of top prospects Elly De La Cruz and Noelvi Marte, as well as Brandon Williamson, Levi Stoudt, Lyon Richardson and Ricky Karcher. As a result, they’ve DFA’d Aristides Aquino, Jeff Hoffman, Art Warren, Derek Law, Jared Solomon and Kyle Dowdy.

De La Cruz and Marte are certainly the most notable of the prospects added. De La Cruz is Cincinnati’s top overall prospect, and ranked 14th overall by MLB.com. Still just 20, De La Cruz made it as high as Double-A in 2022. As he has for most of his young career, De La Cruz mashed there, hitting .305/.358/.553 with eight home runs in 47 games while mostly appearing at shortstop. The Reds have been aggressive in moving their top prospect through the minors, and if he continues to rake into Triple-A next year, it won’t be long before he’s donning a Reds uniform.

Marte, 21, came across in the Luis Castillo deadline blockbuster. He hit .293/.397/.443 with four home runs in 30 games at High-A, and would seem likely to start next year at Double-A. He played shortstop during the minor league season, but has been exclusively at third base in the Arizona Fall League. While Marte is a bit behind De La Cruz, Reds fans can certainly start to dream of the pair of them playing infield in the not-too-distant future.

Of the other prospects added, Brandon Williamson is the only top ten prospect in their system, per MLB.com. He’s a left hander who made 13 starts at Triple-A, pitching to a 4.39 ERA. There’s a good chance he features at some point in 2023 in the big leagues. Elsewhere, Stoudt and Karcher are both pitchers who featured at Triple-A in 2022, while neither had dominant results, there’s a chance both would have been called upon anyway as pitching depth. Richardson is a hard-throwing right hander who’s struggled with injuries of late, but even though he’s not pitched above High-A, the Reds clearly feel his arm has enough talent to avoid risking losing him in the draft.

Aquino is the most high profile of the players cut loose by the Reds. He hit a staggering 14 home runs during August in 2019 for a .320/.391/.767 line in that period, but hasn’t hit much since. In 2022, he posted a line of just .197/.246/.363 while striking out more than a third of his plate appearances. Hoffman pitched to a 3.83 ERA across 44 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Both players were arbitration eligible and non-tender candidates, so it’s not surprising to see them cut loose to open up valuable 40-man spots.

Solomon, Law, Dowdy and Warren all pitched a handful of innings each out of the Reds’ bullpen, but none had much success, and all seemed like near-certain DFA candidates as the Reds look to make room for their young prospects.

60-Man Player Pool Additions: Reds, Blue Jays

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The latest 60-man player pool additions from around the majors…

  • The Reds have added outfielder Michael Siani, infielder Tyler Callihan and right-hander Lyon Richardson to their player pool, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. All three players – Siani (No. 7), Callihan (No. 8) and Richardson (No. 11) – rank among the Reds’ best prospects at MLB.com. The 21-year-old Siani was a fourth-round pick of the Reds in 2018 who batted .253/.333/.339 with six home runs and a whopping 45 stolen bases across 531 plate appearances in Single-A ball last season. Callihan, 20, joined the Reds as a third-rounder last year and hit .263/.298/.442 with six homers and 11 steals in 238 rookie ball plate appearances. Richardson, a 2018 fourth-rounder, logged a 4.15 ERA/3.76 FIP in 112 2/3 innings at the Single-A level last season. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote in May that the hard-throwing Richardson, 20, has the potential to become a top 100 prospect by 2021.
  • Shortstop Orelvis Martinez is now in the Blue Jays’ player pool, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The Dominican Republic native was a pricey July 2 signing in 2018 for the Blue Jays, who inked Martinez to a $3.5MM bonus. The 18-year-old has continued to show great promise since then, evidenced in part by the .275/.350/.549 line and 150 wRC+ he put up in 163 plate appearances in rookie ball during his first pro action last season. FanGraphs (No. 4), MLB.com (No. 7) and Baseball America (No. 7) each place Martinez near the top of Toronto’s farm system.
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