The Reds announced a series of roster moves ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Cubs as they placed outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day injured list due to a kidney stone and activated right-hander Fernando Cruz from the 15-day IL. In corresponding moves, the club recalled outfielder Will Benson from Triple-A and and optioned right-hander Alan Busenitz to Triple-A.
Myers, 32, signed a one-year deal with the Reds this past offseason to act as the club’s regular right fielder. That pact has hardly gone accordingly to plan so far, however, as Myers has slashed a brutal .189/.257/.283 in 141 plate appearances across 37 game this season. Prior to signing with the Reds during the offseason, Myers had spent the past eight seasons as a member of the Padres, slashing a solid .254/.330/.452 with a wRC+ of 111 in 888 games with San Diego.
While the Reds were surely hoping for such a similar performance this season to help steady their offense, Myers’s struggles have helped contribute to an offense that ranks in the bottom five across baseball in terms of slugging percentage thanks to an offense that struggles to find production outside of TJ Friedl, Jonathan India, and Spencer Steer.
In Myers’s place, the Reds have recalled Benson, who the club acquired from the Guardians this past offseason to shore up their outfield mix. A former first round pick who turns 25 next month, Benson has a great deal of upside, though his results have not matched it to this point. in 87 MLB plate appearances so far in his career, Benson has slashed just .138/.198/.150 with a wRC+ of -1, though he sports a far more palatable .243/.396/.464 slash line in 641 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Benson figures to mix into the outfield for the Reds alongside Friedl, Jake Fraley, and Stuart Fairchild while Myers is on the shelf.
Joining Benson in returning to the active roster is Cruz, a 33-year-old journeyman who made his major league debut with the Reds last year. Since then, the right-hander has posted a 3.81 ERA with a 3.12 FIP in 28 1/3 innings of work, good for a 124 ERA+. That ERA is inflated by a brutal stretch of five appearances prior to Cruz’s placement on the injured list, during which he allowed eight runs on eleven hits in just 7 1/3 innings. As Cruz attempts to get back on track, he’ll join a Reds bullpen that has been a bright spot for the club this season, ranking top 10 in baseball in FIP and third in terms of fWAR.
Making room for Cruz on the roster is Busenitz, who heads to Triple-A after just pitching just four innings for the big league club. The 32-year-old righty allowed two runs in four innings of work while striking out three. Busenitz figures to act as depth for Cincinnati going forward at the Triple-A level, where he sports a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings of work.
Just dump him. He’s done
I thought he would fare better in Cincy
Where there’s a Wil(l), there’s a loss.
What can you say about Myers other than it’s gonna be a loooong, forgettable season for him AND the Reds.
Will meet Wil, Wil Will
W-IL-15 (headline) meet W-IL-10
He dropped like a stone.
Benson should be traded to the Mets for Guillorme.
Why anyone thought it was a good idea to give AAAA player Wil Myers a major league contract is beyond me.
Kidney stones are not nice. Myer still could have a productive 2nd half. Benson gets another chance with the ML team. One MiLB signing (Cruz in 22).replaces another MiLB signing (Busenitz in 23).in the Reds bullpen. Of course 6 of the Reds 8 current relievers are off baseball scrap heap. And they’re pretty effective actually.
Sorry, only 5 of 8. I forgot thery promoted Salazar yesterday and DFAed Bracho.
Myers seemed like a decent shot at a deadline flip but has turned out a 7M dollar mistake. Time for EDLC to play CF.’
He’s made around 90 million dollars in his 10-year career. But in those 10 years he’s played 146 games or more only 4 times. The rest are in the double digits. So much hype and promise. Too bad he’s not been healthier.
Too bad he wasn’t better…
Not every player can be a superstar. Myers has had a decent, but unspectacular career. Being overhyped is the fault of the pundants, not the player. Having a 10 year career hardly makes him a AAAA player.
A lot of people like to crap on Myers when he wasn’t all that bad of a player. In the first five years of his career, he had an OPS+ below 100 just twice.
Were are Dela Cruz and ces nothing else to prove front office pull the triger bring up some homerun power we been lack ING from game 1