Prior to today’s game, the Reds placed infielder Matt Davidson on the ten-day COVID-19 injured list after Davidson tested positive for the virus. Aristides Aquino and right-hander Tejay Antone were called up from Cincinnati’s minor league training site to fill the roster spots left by Davidson and by catcher Tucker Barnhart, who went on the paternity list.
Davidson was in the starting lineup for Friday’s 7-1 Cincinnati victory over Detroit, so in the wake of this positive test, surely there must be some concern within the Reds clubhouse about whether others could have been infected. As noted by Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds haven’t had any coronavirus cases since prior to the opening of Summer Camp, when two players tested positive during the initial round of intake testing.
Davidson signed a minors contract with the Reds over the offseason, and Friday’s game marked his first bit of Major League action since the 2018 season. While Davidson slugged 46 homers over 939 PA for the White Sox in 2017-18, he wasn’t a productive offensive player overall, with a .224/.291/.435 slash line. Davidson has also dabbled with pitching, though the Reds seems to be focusing on him as a position player only.
Aquino was the talk of baseball last summer after he slugged 15 homers and posted a 1.129 OPS over his first 124 plate appearances, though he quickly cooled off after that incredible start. He’ll now get another chance at playing time, and could be aided by the existence of a DH spot rather than having to fight for space in a crowded Reds outfield.
Antone was a fifth-round pick for the Reds in the 2014 draft, and he’ll head to the big leagues after posting a 3.74 ERA, 2.80 K/BB rate, and 6.8 K/9 over 611 1/3 career minor league innings. A grounder specialist, Antone is ranked 20th on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top prospects in Cincinnati’s farm system.
Starting DH on opening day. Wonder what the fallout will be from this news…
None
The fallout is that God thinks the National League DH should have never happened, so he punished one.
Yeah that’s it. No DH = Boring watching pitchers hit! Go back to reading your newspaper…..
I dont like watching pitchers hit either but there is strategy in it … whether to pinch hit or bunt etc .. the National League is a little more cerebral which appeals to some fans
A little more cerebral? Blahh…
Who do you have DH that day?
Where do you bat them?
Can my starter give me 7 strong innings?
In the NL, it’s just a bunch of super easy questions… Hmmm , number 8 hitter with 2 outs… let’s pitch around him and if he walks we always have the pitcher next.
Other team: Duhhhh, do I pinch hit for my starter in the second inning? Derrrrrr.
Yep, much better to watch past their prime guys without the ability to even play first base hit. Go back to sucking your pacifier…..
I’d much rather watch a past his prime guy hit than watch a pitcher hit.
4 of the top 10 home run hitters in the AL were DH’s.
2 of the top 10 in average
4 of top 10 in RBI
I don’t remember seeing any pitchers in the top 10.
Sacrifice bunts are the only category they have top 10… they have 9. But the “sacrifice” bunts they put don’t hardly ever led to a run scored. The best percentage of bunts leading to a run went to Kolten Wong. Aaron Nola was the only pitcher in the top 10 and he was 10th.
So, if you are excited by bunts that don’t lead to runs being scored… feast on watching pitchers bat. If you like strike outs… pitchers strike out over half the time.
Guess it doesn’t matter since the BULLPEN SUCKS!!!
How did he get it? These guys are taking a ton of precautions… are you saying, even if I wash my hands and wear a mask, I might get it? I might get it from someone else that washed their hands and wore a mask?
I don’t know about them “taking a ton of precautions”. Most of the players in the dugout had no face coverings on opening day. The Reds will have to be lucky to dodge this bullet.
It’s pretty surprising that so many players have been testing positive in the past few days… but also a positive and impressive testament to how seriously the team’s are taking this that even with the seemingly steady flow of positive tests… it hasn’t really spread through a clubhouse/team seemingly at all. All of the positive tests seem to be contained to one or two players individually and so far (fingers crossed) there haven’t been any incidents of it spreading rapidly through a clubhouse. I guess the only additional risk that could cause issues is that travel has really yet to go into full effect. And it might be more difficult to continue to stop the virus from spreading more rapidly through a team once more of them are all together in a plane/bus and hotel. But hopefully the measures they’re taking continue to work and though any positive test is obviously not a good thing… I am impressed that whatever regulations they seem to have in place do seem to be working pretty well in terms of preventing rapid spread from player to player. Hopefully that keeps up.