On Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett left the game with an injury. During the game it was quiet on what the reason was that caused Gennett to leave the game, but eventually it was announced that he felt tightness in his left groin. That is not the same injury that caused him to miss most of the first half, which was a right groin injury.
After the game, manager David Bell noted that the team was just playing it safe by removing him from the game.
“He had a little bit of tightness,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Not in the groin he injured but the other one, which I was relieved to hear. We got him out of there to play it safe. We’ll see (Thursday). You don’t know if it is compensation. There was just a hint of tightness, so we played it safe.”
Scooter Gennett had something similar to say after the game.
Yeah, definitely precautionary,” Gennett said. “I’ll see (Thursday). It didn’t pop or anything.
The good news is that he felt good enough that he believes there’s a chance he’ll feel fine on Thursday. The bad news is that he had to leave the game and he’s unsure about Thursday.
After coming back from the injured list and the Reds facing multiple left-handed starters, the team is set to face off against several right-handed starters moving forward. That could have been a boost for Scooter Gennett, who has struggled at the plate since his return. But with the off day on Friday, it seems almost guaranteed that even if he feels fine when he shows up at Great American Ball Park on Thursday, he will get the day off. That would give him two days of rest before the next game.
He certainly hasn’t been the offensive boost many posters had him penciled in to be, though he has been all I thought he would be. I thought he should have spent more time on rehab assignment getting his timing and testing his groin. But they don’t pay me the big bucks to think.
It sure seems that the better play by the Reds was to leave Scooter in rehab play while we faced three tough lefties. Giving him more time to get his timing down and getting him starts against right handers. Standard second guessing.
I think it’s obvious that Scooter isn’t ready yet. Send him to Louisville for further rehab and bring up hot hitting Josh VanMeter to play second base.