The Cincinnati Reds have activated infielder Mike Moustakas from the 10-day injured list. To make room on the 26-man roster the team optioned outfielder Mark Payton to the alternate site roster.
Mike Moustakas hasn’t played since April 14th against San Francisco went he went 1-3 with a double. He was put on the injured list with a viral infection that he struggled to rebound from (non-COVID related). At first the Reds were hoping he would miss just a day or two, but Moustakas simply didn’t recover as quickly as hoped for and the team wound up needing to make the roster move.
When he hit the injured list, Mike Moustakas was hitting the ball fairly well on the season. Through his 12 games played the left-handed hitter was rocking a .289/.404/.553 line on the season with as many walks, seven, as strikeouts. He had also picked up four doubles, two home runs, and scored 10 runs.
For Mark Payton it was a short lived stint with the big league club this go around. He’ll head back to Louisville where the Reds alternate site is and unless he is called back up in the next week, should begin the season there with the Triple-A Louisville Bats on May 4th when their season officially begins.
The lineup is out for tonight’s game and Mike Moustakas is back in there and hitting cleanup. With a right-handed pitcher on the mound, David Bell is going with more of a lefty batting order that includes Tyler Naquin hitting 5th and starting in center field and Tucker Barnhart behind the plate and hitting 7th. Kyle Farmer is also starting at shortstop tonight in place of the struggling Eugenio Suárez.
Hopefully the Reds can keep things moving in the right direction with Moustakas back in the lineup after last night’s extra-innings win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. He brings some extra pop to the middle of their lineup and that never hurts your chances at scoring runs.
Moose should help.
Wandy Peralta is now a Yankee
Oh yeah,
Welcome back, Moose!!!
At least Suarez is getting a break. I’d rather have seen Senzel than Farmer with Blandino at SS. Farmer is competing with Suarez for the worst average among position players. I think they should not have resigned him in December. He’s the modern incarnation of Darrel Chaney, at best.
I sure hope Suárez figures it out.
The guy is so likeable. I’m glad his manager is finally giving him a break so he doesn’t keep beating himself up.
In contrast, Garrett has been put out there so much while struggling that he had to delete his Twitter today. Maybe the manager figured out that running the struggling out there has other consequences than losses. Garrett is a good dude and performance notwithstanding, his manager should have protected him better.
Glad Moose is back.
Its clear he adds a lot.
Its late April and 140 games to go.
Kyle Farmer isn’t playing as a solution to SS or the infield. He’s playing because Suarez needs a day off and the Reds are trying to give Farmer some more playing time before they move on.
Lost in the Votto struggles and Suarez struggles and 7 game losing streak is Farmer’s futility. Farmer is given a free pass because theres no daily expectation of anything.
He’s a hypothetical insurance policy with no need for insurance. Third catcher when either Barnhart or Stephenson could play every day for an extended time. Back up infielder at 3b/2b and 1b when they are already 3-4 deep.
He’s the emergency SS and the only reason he’s on the team. If for some reason Farmer becomes the everyday SS, the 2021 season is immediately over. There’s simply no scenario where Farmer steps in to help the team win a playoff spot in 2021.
Good luck against buehler. This probably guarantees a 3-4 with multiple extra base hits tonight.
Yeah. You make good points about Farmer. There are certainly better options now. Even Blandino is a better option now. That’s why I’ve been saying if Senzel isn’t going to play every day in a set position then make him a super utility guy. IMO he can play every position outside of catcher/pitcher.
Senzel taking over Farmer’s role would be best for the team’s comp, hurts the IF defense somewhat but it isnt enough to make me not consider it. Opens up ABs for Senzel too. Bell will say Senzel is only an emergency IF, but they might be considering shifting him into that role down the line, as they probably should be.
2020ball – Senzel was rated best defensive third baseman in minors. He doesnt hurt the infield defense. He definitely helps it.
yeah thats why I said somewhat. I dont think its a stretch to say Farmer is the better fielder right now, and might be in the future too. Its not, however, enough for me to want to keep Farmer, who I think is being given more playing time than he ought to. Senzel has loads more upside so I’d like to see him in that role.
I think Senzel would be the better infielder over Farmer 6 days out of seven