Over the last couple of days, the Cincinnati Reds have dealt with more shuffling of the roster as they have more injuries and more folks ready to return from injury. They enter play today with an 18-24 record coming off a weekend series loss to the San Fransico Giants and have split the first two games of the series with the Arizona Diamondbacks. They will start a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday of this week. The team is sputtering right now and needs a win today to win the series with the Diamondbacks. Below are the moves they’ve made in the past two days.
OF – TJ Friedl
The Reds have placed Friedl back on the Injured list with a fractured thumb after being hit by a pitch. He has just returned from the injured list from a fractured wrist and now is out for a while with a left thumb fracture.
LHP- Brandon Williamson
The Reds have sent Williamson on a rehab assignment to the Dayton Dragons in High-A. Williamson pitched in four games this spring for the Reds, making three starts. He worked in 11 innings allowing, 13 hits, eight earned runs, one home run, three walks, and struck out 10. He had a 6.55 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP before being shut down in late March with a left shoulder strain.
OF – Jacob Hurtubise
The Reds have called up Hurtubise from the Triple-A Louisville Bats. He has played in nine games so far this year across three levels of the minors for the Reds. In those nine games, he has six runs scored, seven hits, two doubles, one home run, five RBIs, four walks, six strikeouts, and two stolen bases. He has slashed .241/.353/.414 with a .767 OPS on the year.
Wrap up
The biggest blow for the Reds is losing their starting Center Fielder again. Friedl is a big part of this Reds offense and without him, they have struggled with consistency in the offense up and down the lineup. Williamson is still a ways off from building up his arm strength but will be an interesting arm to watch to see if he’s stashed in Triple-A making some starts or if he joins the rotation with the Big League club once he builds up his stamina. This Reds team has a lot of young talent but has been battling adversity all year long.
