The Reds announced a series of roster moves today, including the selection of prospect Matt McLain, which was reported on yesterday. To make room for McLain on the active roster, outfielder TJ Friedl was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain, retroactive to May 12. To open a spot for McLain on the 40-man roster, first baseman Joey Votto was transferred to the 60-day IL. Additionally, left-hander Brandon Williamson is with the club on the taxi squad.
Friedl recently underwent an MRI which revealed only mild damage, though manager David Bell said on the weekend that the club would take 48 hours to decide on whether or not an IL trip was needed. It seems that they have decided on the cautious approach and will give Friedl a bit of a breather. Since the move is backdated, he can return in a week if the issue does indeed prove to be minor.
The loss of Friedl is rough for the Reds, as he’s been having a great season so far. He’s hitting .306/.351/.468 for a wRC+ of 117 while stealing four bases and getting good grades for his glovework, leading to a tally of 1.2 wins above replacement from FanGraphs after just 37 games. He’ll now hit the shelf but his absence will create an opening for McLain, one of the club’s many interesting infield prospects.
Votto’s move to the 60-day injured list isn’t a shock as he’s still trying to get healthy in the wake of last year’s rotator cuff and bicep surgery. He started a rehab assignment earlier this year but halted that in the middle of April and has yet to resume playing in official games. Since the 60-day count goes from his initial IL placement at the end of March, he’s now ineligible to return until late May, which didn’t seem to be on the table anyway.
As for Williamson, he’s one of the club’s top pitching prospects and could potentially be making his major league debut this week. The Reds have a couple of rotation vacancies after recently designating Luis Cessa for assignment and placing Nick Lodolo on the injured list. Perhaps Williamson will be slotted into one of those openings, though that has yet to be made official. He’s already on the 40-man roster but would require a corresponding move to get onto the active roster.
Oh, bleak is such news!
I know stats are secondary to players bank accounts but it’s a shame to see Votto’s career average dip under .300
Click on Brandon Williamson. The only way he should see a major league ballpark is by paying for a ticket! This guy has never had good stats and this year is even worse.
I agree he needs to get the control issues under control before trying to pitch in that ballpark.
Abbott is a better choice. Who is so important that you wouldn’t use their 40 man spot for an impressive prospect?
I was incorrectly thinking he’d played all over the infield last season. But he’s pretty much only played middle infield. I guess putting McLain at 3B would be the opposite from what they did with Jonathan India, who played almost exclusively at 3B in the minors before he debuted at 2B with the big league team.
For the time being while Friedl is out they can move Senzel back to CF and put McLain at 3B.
great idea! Reds are so strong currently at short, lets start McClain at a completely foreign position. that will build his confidence!
Or they can just start him at SS like they did tonight. It’s fun to bag on the Reds because they’ve been bad lately and moved players all over the field but this team has the feel of a very good team here in another year or two. Hope everybody gets their laughing in now because there are bright sunny days ahead in Cincinnati.
Amazing how baseball has survived this many years, without all of these online geniuses who know it all, not employed by MLB teams…..or McDonald’s.