Reds Place Jake Fraley, Jonathan India On Injured List
1:05 pm: In yet another injury blow for the Reds, second baseman Jonathan India is going on the injured list due to an injury to his right hamstring. The move is retroactive to April 30. Alejo Lopez has been recalled to take his place.
Last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, India has been off a bit of a slow start to the year, perhaps because of this hamstring issue, which first put him on the shelf April 16. His .295/.311/.341 line amounts to a wRC+ of 85, which is 37 points below last year’s mark. Matt Reynolds, playing second base today, could see more time with India out. Mike Moustakas could also play more third base, with Brandon Drury sliding over to the keystone.
Of course, Lopez could also figure into that mix, as he’s capable of both playing second and third base, as well as shortstop and left field. He’s off to a slow start in Triple-A this year, but hit .303/.386/.446 there last year, walking more than he struck out and putting up a 126 wRC+.
12:56 pm: The Reds announced to members of the media, including Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer, that outfielder Jake Fraley is headed to the injured list with right knee inflammation. Fellow outfielder TJ Friedl has been recalled to take his place.
This is yet another domino in what has been a very frustrating series of events for the fans of the Reds. In the offseason, a number of the club’s better players were shipped out as the club attempted to lower payroll. One such move was the deal that sent Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to the Mariners, with four players coming back the other way, one of those being Fraley. Once the season began, a rash of injuries took a toll on the players who remained, with the club limping out to a 3-18 start to the season, easily the worst in the league.
Fraley had a solid season in Seattle last year but hasn’t played well since moving to Cincy, perhaps because of this knee issue. This isn’t something that just popped up suddenly, as he also missed a few games earlier in the season because of it. On the year, he’s hitting .116/.208/.233, but will now take some time to heal up and hopefully come back healthier and more productive.
The club’s outfield depth has also taken a hit with a couple of notable cuts, as both Shogo Akiyama and Aristides Aquino have been released this season. Friedl will slot into the outfield mix alongside Tommy Pham, Tyler Naquin, Nick Senzel and Matt Reynolds. Friedl hasn’t hit much in his MLB action thus far, though in a small sample of just 17 games. In 128 Triple-A games, however, he’s hit a decent .256/.356/.412.
Reds Activate Tyler Naquin, Option TJ Friedl
The Reds have activated outfielder Tyler Naquin from the COVID injured list, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic (via Twitter). In corresponding moves, TJ Friedl was optioned to Triple-A, and righty Daniel Duarte was placed on the 60-day injured list.
The 30-year-old Naquin will step right back into the leadoff spot while defending right field today. He was hitting .273/.333/.455 in 36 plate appearances before requiring a few days off.
Friedl saw limited playing time while on the roster, having gone 0-7 this season with a walk. Duarte, already on the 10-day injured list with right elbow swelling, simply moves to the 60-day, opening a spot on the 40-man roster. Duarte made just three appearances with the Reds this season.
Reds Place Jesse Winker, Shogo Akiyama On 10-Day Injured List
Just a day after returning from the 10-day injured list, Jesse Winker is heading back to the IL due to the same intercostal strain that sidelined him for over a month. The Reds announced that both Winker and fellow outfielder Shogo Akiyama have been placed on the 10-day IL, with Akiyama suffering from a right hamstring strain. The two open roster spots will be filled by outfielder TJ Friedl (whose contract was selected from Triple-A), and right-hander Art Warren, who was activated from the 60-day IL.
Winker was hit by a Brusdar Graterol pitch in the eighth inning of last night’s 3-1 win over the Dodgers, and had to be removed from the game for a pinch-runner. Reds manager David Bell indicated that the swing prior to the HBP may have been the cause of Winker’s re-aggravation, but whatever the cause, Winker will now again miss time given this crucial stretch of the Reds’ season.
Given the timing, it is certainly possible that Winker might not play again in 2021. He’ll miss at least the next 10 days, and even if he is able to return after this second intercostal issue, the Reds might not want to risk further injury if the team is already out of the playoff race. This is technically the third time that Winker has been sidelined with this intercostal injury, as he missed a few games prior to his first IL stint in an attempt to solve the problem through some rest, before again being hampered when returning to action.
It’s a terrible break for both Winker and the Reds, as Winker’s bat is a major reason why Cincinnati is even in the postseason race. Winker has 24 home runs and a .305/.394/.556 slash line over 485 plate appearances, with a 151 wRC+ that ranks fifth among all players with at least 450 PA.
Winker and Akiyama join Tyler Naquin (bruised ribs) on the IL, leaving the Reds suddenly thin in the outfield. Aristides Aquino and Max Schrock have been serving as a left field platoon in Winker’s absence, with Delino DeShields getting action along with Naquin and Akiyama in center field. With Akiyama now out, it opens the door for Friedl to make his Major League debut as the Reds play some of their most important games of the season.
Friedl joined the Reds as an undrafted free agent in 2016, and he has worked his way through the system up to the Triple-A level this year, where he has batted .264/.357/.422 with 12 homers in 448 PA. Baseball America ranked Friedl 22nd on their midseason list of the top 30 prospects in Cincinnati’s farm system. Friedl has experience at all three outfield positions and has spent the bulk of his time in center, so he could essentially slide right into Akiyama’s spot as a left-handed hitting complement to DeShields.
Warren’s return might also be no small matter for a Reds bullpen that is eager for fresh arms. Warren posted a 1.88 ERA over 14 1/3 innings before being placed on the injured list due to an oblique strain back on July 15. The right-hander has posted some big strikeout numbers since the start of the 2018 minor league season, which earned him a brief look on the Mariners’ roster during the 2019 season. The Rangers claimed Warren from the Mariners after last season, and Cincinnati then acquired Warren in a trade with Texas last January.
Reds Add 3 To Player Pool
The Reds have added left-hander Brandon Finnegan, infielder Rece Hinds and outfielder TJ Friedl to their 60-man player pool, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. All three players will report to the team’s alternate site.
While he was formerly a high-end prospect whom the Reds acquired from the Royals in the teams’ 2015 Johnny Cueto blockbuster, Finnegan hasn’t made a major impact in the bigs. Finnegan threw 172 innings of 3.98 ERA ball as a Red in 2016, but injuries have helped cut him down since then. He threw just 33 2/3 innings from 2017-18 and then didn’t pitch at all in the majors last season. The Reds outrighted the 27-year-old back in April.
Both Hinds and Friedl rank among the Reds’ most promising farmhands, as MLB.com places the former ninth in their system and the latter 22nd. Hinds, just 19 years old, was a second-round pick in 2019 who took a mere 10 plate appearances in rookie ball last season because of a quad injury. The 24-year-old Friedl has topped out at Double-A, where he batted .257/.353/.372 with seven home runs in 565 trips to the plate from 2018-19.