The Reds are suffering through an eight-game losing streak and, as you’ll read here, dealing with a number of key injuries as well. Here’s the latest from Cincinnati…
- Johnny Cueto will have his right elbow examined today, Joe Kay of the Associated Press tweets. Cueto missed his scheduled start on Sunday due to what manager Bryan Price described to reporters yesterday (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) as “more than his usual elbow stiffness,” which prompted the Reds to be cautious with their ace, though Price felt Cueto probably could have pitched if absolutely necessary. “I don’t think it’s anything anybody is concerned with….If he needs a little extra time, he’s certainly earned it,” Price said. It should be noted that an elbow exam is a pretty routine step whenever a pitcher is experiencing any discomfort, so the fact that Cueto is undergoing an examination is not necessarily a bad sign. Still, Price said today that Cueto “hasn’t had total relief. I’d have thought by now, he would.” Any type of health issue for Cueto is worth monitoring given his status as both one of the top free agents of the 2015-16 offseason and potentially a big deadline trade chip for the struggling Reds.
- In a welcome turn of events for Reds reliever Sean Marshall, the left-hander could be back pitching this season, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Last week, Marshall went in for anterior capsule surgery on his left shoulder, which was expected to end his season and potentially threaten his career. Instead, doctors discovered that full surgery wasn’t needed and instead just removed some scar tissue, so Marshall could be back on the mound this year if all goes well in his recovery. The southpaw has thrown just 25 1/3 innings over the last two seasons due to a variety of injury problems, including rotator cuff surgery last June.
- Devin Mesoraco has been placed on the 15-day DL (retroactive to last Thursday) with a left hip injury, the team announced via Twitter. Mesoraco has been limited to 51 plate appearances this season due to his hip impingement, and he’s appeared as a catcher in only six of his 23 games; the Reds have been trying to keep him healthy by using him as a pinch-hitter and interleague DH. Both the player and team were looking to exhaust all possibilities before turning to surgery, though a season-ending hip operation may now be the only option.
- The Reds are looking more and more like trade deadline sellers, and though Jay Bruce is only hitting .211/.311/.408 in 164 PA, he could be a trade chip, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. “I’d take a flyer on him and see if our on-the-field people could fix him,” an AL scout told Fay. “He looks healthy. His home runs and walks still grade out at 60 to 65 (on the 80-point scale). It’s just that his hit-ability is at 25 right now.”
Wow really Cueto has some elbow issues? Would not have predicted that with the abuse the Reds put on him.
this will KILL the future of the team if he has a major injury and can’t be traded.
that will really hurt their future, he’s one of the pieces that would bring back a nice package, also chapman would bring back a nice package if the reds decide to trade him
It used to be Dusty when he was there, but I think its more of organizational problem . Price needs to go he’s not the Manger for this Team.
Let us all hope Cueto isn’t injured, for the sake of himself and the trade market. If the guy ends up missing the rest of the year, we will all be picturing Amaro sitting in the corner with a malicious laugh as he prepares to demand the moon and a team’s top 3 prospects for Hamels.
I think Hamels was always worth more because he was signed to a contract already……
Yes, but if Cueto ends up injured, then that is another pitcher off the list of the ones that’ll more than likely be available. In other words, teams that need an ace will have to look to the Phillies oppose to having a choice of the Phillies or Reds.
If Cueto is fine and it’s not a major injury I believe the red sox will make a move for Cueto and maybe chapman. I think Hamels goes to the dodgers or cubs
Only if they pay the piper !
For both Cueto and Chapman both the Sox would definitely have to give up a lot.
Definitely. And they’ve got a lot to give.
A significant injury to the guy would be catastrophic for everybody. The Reds need him this to have any sliver of hope to contend this year, they’d lose out on all trade value, it makes one less ace out on the trade market effecting suitors down the stretch,it’d massively effect Cueto’s FA stock, just bad all around. Really hope it’s nothing serious, especially for his sake.
2 of the top 4 possible FA pitchers Cueto and Zimm have lost velocity since last year..Zimm 1.5 mph and Cueto about1 tick. That is many times a warning.
Is that compared to all of last year or April-May of last year? Might not mean anything as both pitchers could see their velocity tick up as we progress into summer.
True, and it’s actually the opposite with Cole Hamels , The guy has kept if not Better. That’s the Reason the Phillies demand Three Top Notch Prospects, and will get it in the end !
Hamels has pitched through some danger years…he has that going for him
The Reds are pretty safely out of it at this point. There’s not a realistic scenario where they beat the Cards and Cubs for the division or the Cubs/Pirates/Giants/Padres/Mets/Marlins for the Wild Card.
Cueto was a ticking time bomb ready to explode….better it happen before a team forked over a top prospect at the deadline for him…
All pitchers are, really.
Different kind of time bombs too I suppose. There’s the type that is a major injury waiting to happen, and then the Tim Lincecum type where their size/age/delivery etc brings their stuff back a bit and they have to adjust as pitchers. Some do and have nice careers….some don’t and become Dontrelle Willis.
This would be a huge blow to the market. It would seriously limit his earning potential next year as well. However, injured or not, I would want the Sox to take a flyer, if they could get him discounted to a deal of 2-4 years, I would bet they bite regardless of AAV
cueto is probably gonna need tommy john surgery. and thus will kill any attempt to get good trade value for him. blow up the team already. enough is enough!!!
Hope Marshall can get his career back together. He was the top LHP Set-up man in the game for a short time there.
The Reds are doomed. If Cueto has to have any kind of surgery there goes our biggest trade chip and we will get nothing in return once he is gone this offseason.
Also, clearly Price doesn’t like sharing things with the media because he feels he doesn’t benefit from sharing, and he has a better insight to the team than any of us do, but saying that it’s not something anyone is really concerned about is madness.
Does anybody think that Joey Votto might be available at the Trading deadline !
He’s got a monster contract. We’ve seen that kind of contract moved before with the Fielder case, but it would take a lot of guts.
Just a note on Jay Bruce…. He’s been absolutely mashing the last few weeks. His avg has been .267 for the last month and .366 over the past two weeks. If anyone has ever had mr. Bruce on their fantasy team, you know how insane that is.
Yeah…he’ll kill your head to head league… But he was usually solid if you could bench him and ride out the inconsistency. Problem was for me that he’d often go too high in the draft. It was all a matter of when and where for Bruce in fantasy