Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jesse Winker left the game on Sunday afternoon in Colorado in the middle of an at-bat after swinging and missing during the sixth inning. Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer had this after the game:
Winker will be re-evaluated by the training staff Monday. Bell didn’t want to speculate on whether Winker’s injury would require a trip to the injured list.
“I really hope it’s nothing serious,” Winker said. “Obviously, I don’t want to go on the IL or whatever. I’m hoping I avoid that. Right now, I’m hoping it’s not as bad. We’ll just see tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll wake up, it feels better and we’ll evaluate it and go from there.”
There’s a wide range of things that it could be. Last that I checked, I’m not a doctor, so I don’t want to speculate much on what the injury could be. It seems that Jesse Winker is positive in his mindset, which is a good thing. If nothing else, it does tell us that it’s not something that is clearly a big issue or he would have certainly responded a little bit differently after the game.
With that said, if it’s an oblique issue, we’ve seen how those things can be nagging. Of course, we’ve also seen how they can be things that only linger for a short period of time.
If there is one area where the Reds do have the ability to fill a spot on the roster, it’s the outfield. If Jesse Winker does need to miss time – a little bit or a lot – there are options. Right now Phillip Ervin seems to be tearing the cover off of the ball and he can fill in. The team also could play Derek Dietrich in the outfield to find him a few more at-bats. That could also allow them to play some match up baseball around who is pitching that day.
If there’s a need to put Winker onto the injured list it would seem that Josh VanMeter could come back up and help fill out the bench. He’s on the 40-man and has been up and down through the last 10 weeks of the season. VanMeter can play left field, right field, second base, and first base.
The Reds definitely don’t need a guy who has an .859 OPS since April 9th.
Woah- I didn’t realize it was so high. Is that partially because he’s being platooned, and therefore missing opportunities to hit where he’d be challenged and potentially overwhelmed- which would drive that OPS number back down?
YeAh BuT hE cAnT hIt LeFtIeS aNd hIs dEfEnSe Is BaD
This will make it easy for Bell to not have to find excuses to not play him
If there’s anything good that could come from this, it’s that Ervin may finally get an extended chance at regular playing time. Would like to see what he can do starting five out of every six games or so…
well Jim,
You could just pinch hit Sonny Gray for Winker….
I rather would have seen Lorenzen go in at 2-2
That would have made more sense.
Gray wasn’t going to be needed to pitch.
Lorenzen was still a possibility to pitch in the game at that point. Don’t want to use him just for the 2 strike pinch hit when he might still pitch
Garrett had just a slight twinge and thought it was no big deal. He isn’t back yet, going on two weeks or so now.
Winker likely to be out awhile. These guys stretch considerably, unlike the rest of us, so they should be as flexible as they can get. When they tweak something, it’s really tweaked. When is the last time anyone saw an MLB hitter leave during an at bat and then come back fine in a day or two? Maybe before free agency and guaranteed contracts.
Many years ago I felt a slight tweak in my right oblique while hitting golf balls. Made a couple more swings feeling very little, then packed it in so as not to hurt myself worse. Six weeks later I was finally able to hit a putt without pain.
First game Winker misses, LF is manned by DD, not by the guy who has 7 hits in his last nine trips, four of them for extra bases. Yet they bring in an RP repeatedly who hasn’t gotten anybody out in weeks, re-playing the Duke experience. Isn’t this bass ackwards, or I am I just not smart enough to understand the nuances of managing? Does Bell buy high and sell low in the investment market?
I’ve been a Reds fan for over 60 years. I have not been able to get to Cincinnati in the last few years however I’ve watched a lot of Reds game on TV. For the life of me I can’t understand why so much negative talent that Winker has. He’s been able to hit wherever he’s been, when he was brought up all the baseball brains stated that Winker has no power and can’t hit period. JUST like Ervin if Bell would leave Winker in to play every game his hitting would improve over left handed pitching. The Reds stuck with Shebler for a very long as they have Peraza. Winker & Ervin should play every game somehow. With Senzel & Puig starting it would be difficult to have Winker or Ervin in as REGULARS. Reds have players at AAA-AA-A ball that have great stats with minor league help and having players that the Reds could trade this is the time,RIGHT NOW/NOT LATER to make moves and help this present team to contend. Reds fans deserve a contending team again as its been a long time.
Yes, already a short bench so they can’t screw around with a guy who is an unknown. Anything more than 2-3 games missed they should just DL him.
Mean Matt. Mean. I love Billy but yeah, he’s not an everyday MLB player, especially now that his fielding is only excellent and not top 2-3 in MLB.