The Cincinnati Reds are sending second baseman Mike Moustakas on a rehab assignment to join the Triple-A Louisville Bats. The assignment will begin on Tuesday when the Bats begin their series in Omaha. Manager David Bell said prior to the game on Monday night that it was likely that Moustakas would join the Reds on their road trip out to San Diego.
“Moose is going to play tomorrow night,” said Bell. “And the next night in Omaha. The plan is for him to still join us in San Diego.”
Bell added “Some time in that series (San Diego). We’ll see how it goes the first couple of days that he’s going to play. There may be a day of transition of travel, off day, then play the next day.”
It could be a short stint in Triple-A for Mike Moustakas if things go well. He last played in a game on May 18th when he pinch hit in San Francisco. He last started on May 14th in Colorado and that is when he initially injured his heel. At the time he hit the injured list he was hitting .241/.337/.437 through 104 plate appearances.
When he gets back to the Cincinnati Reds it will lead to an interesting situation that likely isn’t going to please many fans of the team. Mike Moustakas is going to play nearly every day. So is Eugenio Suárez. And so are Jonathan India and Joey Votto. Someone has to play shortstop among the group and the only one of those players who has done so this year is Suárez, who has played it about as poorly as possible.
Since moving to third base while Mike Moustakas has been out, Suárez has looked much better in the field. He’s had far more experience over the last few years at third base and he seems more comfortable there. I hesitate to even talk about runs saved in such a small sample size of 31 games, but he’s been +3 runs at third and -7 runs at shortstop (both samples are 31 games). Perhaps finding his defensive rhythm at third base over the last month will help him perform better on the defensive side of things if and when he slides back over to shortstop upon the return of Moustakas. While range was an issue, his glove work was just as much of an issue at the position.
Did I mention trying India @ SS? Can’t remember if I did. lol 🙂
Kudos to Suarez for the much improved ABs over the past couple of weeks. Much lower whiffs and some nice hits and RBIs. Keep him at 3rd. Let India try SS in some lower leverage situations. I don’t see much upside to Moustakas over India at 2b. Mous is great but India is much cheaper. Is it blasphemy to suggest he may be a smart trade option? Makes the most sense if he and India have to trade time at 2b. Other option is Mous to third and trade Suarez.
The defense may suffer, but that lineup should be fire. Especially when Stephenson is catching.
The old tomato is happy to see this. I was starting to wonder if he was ever going to come back.
I’m excited! Any word on Hoffman? We apparently need help in the pen, so…he might help, and hopefully we get a dialed in Lorenzen soon to.
Hoffman wasn’t mentioned today. Lorenzen is still out in Arizona doing his rehab.
Moose,Suarez and Joey will play every day barring injury and scheduled days off.Only way India plays every day barring injury and scheduled days off is if Suarez play short.If Bell believes Eugenio improved offense is because of him playing at third then Moose goes back to second and Farmer plays short.Performance of the vets will not factor in to how much they play.India’s performance will matter as it did earlier and he will hit a rough spot and he will set.I am not saying this is right or wrong its just the way it is.
With Moose, Winker, Naquin, Votto, Barnhart it becomes a pretty left handed lineup susceptible to left handed relief pitching.
Naquin will only start against RHP with Aquino back I would guess. Same for Barnhart I would think, so that means roster flexibility and better matchups hopefully.
I just don’t see the excitement for Moose. Think we area better team with him only if we have a DH. India brings way to much to sit him and Suarez just can’t play SS.
I agree, Bill. Let’s not move a bunch of players, now that they have started to gel.
Totally agree, and why rush Moose? Very likely he reinjures his heel or something else. Until he starts to hit and proves the heel can take everyday play, I keep him in AAA? Seems silly to rush him all the way 2 SD when the team is playing well. However, they do have 2 games n Minnasota; they may want him ready to DH?? Then again, why not AA and Shogo?
Totally agree Bill. Keep India where he is!
India is now entrenched in the leadoff spot and at 2B and that is a very good thing. Moose will play most every day at 3B. That puts Suarez back at SS with Farmer entering for defense in the late innings. There really are no other good options at this point. Senzel is out for a LONG time.
Agreed, I just hope the move back to SS doesn’t mess up the positive momentum that Suarez has been developing at the plate sense moving back to 3B. Quite the lineup with Moose back!
Vs RHP
India- 2B
Winker- LF
Castellanos- RF
Naquin- CF
Votto- 1B
Moose- 3B
Suarez- SS
Barnhart- C
Vs LHP
India- 2B
Winker- LF
Castellanos- RF
T. Stephenson- C
Votto- 1B
Moose- 3B
Suarez- SS
Aquino- CF
As long as India continues to play every game I’ll be satisfied. The other details about Moustakas at 3rd while Suarez at SS will not be ideal, so I’ll just look for this one thing and be happy if it happens!
🙂
Certainly not a rush until the timing is down and rust knocked off, all things considered. Maybe in time to help DH in Minnesota, but Votto was down on farm longer?