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.
I hope the reds are taking covid seriously and making sure to test all players returning from canada before they spread the virus to Almora, Mahle, Kuhnel, Drury who did not travel with the team to Toronto over the weekend, All players who traveled to and from Canada should be tested before being allowed to play.
Isn’t it safe to assume the MLB has a testing protocol in place?
Last I heard was they dropped testing unless you showed symptoms.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33518093/mlb-drops-regular-covid-testing-keeps-ability-move-games-needed
But since anyone can spread covid they should be requiring all players returning from international travel to be tested requiring two negative tests before being allowed to play again regardless of vaccination status.
Anything else is just anti science and ignores facts we know about covid. The mlb will follow through with players who arent vaccinated being unable to travel outside the country but doesn’t seem to care about players bringing covid back with them. Shame MLB. Shame.
It is your duty as an American to get yourself tested even if vaccinated to make sure you aren’t spreading covid after traveling internationally.
Jung mlb is going to respect the laws of other countries, not sure why you would expect anything different. If the US were responsible they would use contact tracing and have a similar requirement for everyone returning from travel.
But let’s get real, if anyone is likely to be spreading Covid.around, it’s the unvaccinated players. With all the millions of dollars on the line it’s incredible they can take such a risk and not be sued for breach of contract.
MLB should respect laws of other countries.
But why isnt the MLB testing players returning from international travel? Does the MLB not care about covid? Does the MLB not take it seriously? Traveling to different countries exposes you to many different variants.
All players who traveled internationally should be required to test. And produce two negative tests before being allowed to play again.
Since vaccinated players are the ones traveling internationally they must test and produce two consecutive negative tests.
Also, misinformation, covid can be spread by both vaccinated and unvaccinated. You’re not being honest and are actively denying science and data we have confirming such.
Or we could just treat it like the common flu, which it has become as it is now endemic.
Some people just can’t seem to let go of the drama. Sad.
Alliterations: Aristides Aquino and Albert Almora.
It looks like they are calling guys up alphabetically.
Aquino gets his job the first time for three years too long because he had an extraordinary month. How long will he get it this time because he had a good game in Toronto?
Same feelings. They sure are holding out hope he’ll capture that one month form again and ignore the past 2 seasons :/
Figured Aquino would stay as AAA depth until they flip a few players at the deadline. Now they’ll probably need to DFA him again when others get healthy.
How come Trade rumors hasn’t made a post about Donaldson getting suspended for a game? It’s sad Tim thinks he is somehow doing something no one is doing? Seriously, how’s he changing the game except for being a overpaid cry baby. Silly Tony la russa, that’s as bad as it gets…. You’ve sad worse during your playing days. Hell of a lot worse but it’s cool, you gotta virtue signal.
Ill be the downvote for this nonsensical comment. Pretty sure the way both are playing, Donaldson really should just keep his mouth shut and maybe learn some new things. Staying healthy should be one. Silly commenter, that’s as bad as it gets.
Hay Tony, how ya doing? You seem to have the same silly mindset.
What part didn’t make since to you? Since it’s nonsensical….
I started a dialogue on this in the Rumors post about Bummer returning…check that one out to see how delighted Sox fans were… Anyway the Sports Illustrated article from 2019 is available on line. Anderson felt like Jackie because he was the only black American on the team. The other blacks were Latino. Give rumors credit they allowed your comment and mine to post
Why should you give someone credit for not controlling and censoring free speech?
This guy was a beast in MLB the Show a few yrs ago
He’s still a budget beast pick in battle royale.