The Reds announced that right-hander Fernando Cruz has been reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list, with righty Kevin Herget designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
The Reds have been endlessly cycling pitchers through their roster over the past week or so due to this COVID outbreak. Cruz was one of four pitchers to land on the IL due to the virus, alongside Hunter Greene, Ben Lively and Brandon Williamson. Those absences forced the club to make transactions on an almost daily basis to keep the staff stocked with available arms.
Herget, 32, was one of those fresh arms, getting selected to the roster earlier this week. He entered Wednesday’s game with the club down 8-3 to the Mariners and tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames to finish the contest. But with Cruz now back from the IL, he’s been bumped from the roster. Players on the COVID IL don’t count against the 40-man roster, so the return of Cruz meant that Herget had to be removed from there instead of merely being optioned.
The right-handed Herget signed a minor league deal with the club in the offseason and has now been selected and then designated for assignment twice this year. He was also on the 40-man roster from early April to the middle of June, getting frequently optioned to Triple-A and back in that time. On the whole, he has thrown 24 1/3 innings in the bigs this year with a 5.18 ERA, 12.4% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 33.3% ground ball rate.
With the trade deadline long passed, the Reds will have to put Herget on waivers in the coming days. Back in June, he passed through unclaimed and could have elected free agency but decided to stick with the Reds. It’s possible the same sequence of events plays out now, though that remains to be seen.
Of course they did.
Could to see Cruz back. Probably the second best bullpen guy at this point, maybe the best with Diaz obviously burned out lately.
I recall a rule that allowed teams to add a temporary replacement player when someone went on the COVID-IL, and later return that temporary player to the minors without subjecting him to the waiver process. Maybe that’s no longer the case in 2023? But if not, why even keep a rule for a COVID-IL?
I think it was a timing thing, like it had to be under emergency circumstances.
Agree with you. Why would they have had to add him to the 40 at all then?
We must be missing something.
Hope this means all those guys are back soon. They will be meeded as they try to catch up to a playoff spot.
It said players on COVID IL don’t count towards 40 man roster in article. I had thought they did but the substitute players to replace them did not. I must have had that backwards I guess.
Herget was not among the original group of COVID replacements… Technically, Herget replaced Kennedy/Busenitz so even with Cruz’ return, the DFA had to be executed…
Herget Kevin
You can get Covid just from watching the Reds these days.
We won’t ferget Herget
Unless you been vaccinated 400 times and you are wearing 4 masks.