The Cincinnati Reds had some good news and they had some bad news to announce on Thursday. The good news is that right-handed starting pitcher Sonny Gray would be returning from the injured list to make a start on Sunday to close out the Milwaukee Brewers series. Gray was placed on the injured list after his start before the All-Stay break and was not expected to miss any real time. The bad news was that they have to place right-handed reliever Art Warren on the injured list with a strained oblique. That move was retroactive to Monday.
For Sonny Gray and the Reds, this is the best news. While neither side seemed to be concerned about the ordeal, Gray did leave Milwaukee early during the final road trip to fly back to Cincinnati to get treatment. He was expected to return after the break and not have missed a start thanks to the time off from the All-Star break mixed in with the time off between starts. Gray will follow Tyler Mahle and Luis Castillo in the 3-game home series against the first place Brewers as the Reds try to gain some ground to begin the second half.
Art Warren hitting the injured list isn’t what David Bell and Derek Johnson were wanting to hear. While the bullpen has been pitching well of late, a big part of that bullpen turn around has been Art Warren. The 28-year-old righty has allowed just three runs in 14.1 innings across 18 games this season. He’s given up just one homer, allowed just nine hits and walked six batters to go along with 21 strikeouts. The move was made retroactive to Monday the 12th. That could mean he would be eligible to return to the roster in the middle of next week if he’s healthy. As of now, though, there has not been any timetable provided for how long he could be out.
With Art Warren hitting the injured list it does take away one roster decision that would need to be made in the next week as far as who is removed from the 26-man roster with Sonny Gray, Michael Lorenzen, and Jeff Hoffman all likely to be activated in that time frame. More moves will have to come, but this one seems to have been made for them. Hoffman will make a rehab start on Friday in Dayton, but his allotted time on a rehab assignment will be up in several days and must be activated.
Bitter sweet news, but glad to have Gray ready to go. Interesting the rotation is being set Mahle, Castillo, and Gray. I would have thought Miley was a no brained in the top 3 spots.
Is sending C Perez back down I-75 that much of a decision? It’s the easiest call. He
Gave up the HR on his 4th out of the inning against the Royals, and it turned into the 2nd biggest pen implosion of the season. That bottom line is he can’t be trusted and a reliever that the manager dances around in such situations is a detriment.
As for move #2, Instead of seeing one of Vlad or Tony head south, I’d rather see Freeman go. If he elects free agency then it simplifies things.
By the way. How scared are Brewers fans of 9th inning ties with Hader and the Reds?
I bet they are feeling similar to however we felt when Coco or Raisel trotted out to preserve a tie!
Cubs have moved Peterson. (In best mortal kombat voice) ” It has begun”
Love it.
Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t mind picking up Javy Baez! He destroys lefties and we’re pretty weak vs lefties now w/Wink, Joey, and Naquin all getting downgraded big time.
India/Stephenson/Nick/Baez would look pretty scary vs lhp
Baez would be an no doubt upgrade to this team, despite his obvious flaws.
Eh, Baez is honestly overrated. Lifetime OBP barely above .300. And the Cubs would ask for a king’s ransom for him because of the “hype” around him, not because of his actual production.
Hard pass.
21/56 and ops over 1.000 vs lefties? He’s not overrated this year. Of course it always depends on who you have to give up.
I’d argue he’s probably underrated, since everyone points to the strikeouts and low OBP instead of the plus defense and plus power for a SS. He’s obviously flawed, and I’d be shocked if the Cubs wanted a “kings ransom” for him since I know they know what the league thinks of him.
There would be interested teams for sure though, so maybe the price would be too high. I’m having a hard time coming up with a trade scenario for him, but I’d imagine giving up a Hinds or Callihan for him. Maybe Gutierrez or Santillan even.
There are other things to consider. Baez’s contract is up at the end of the season, and there is no guarantee he will resign with the Reds. Do you really want to trade away potential future pieces for a 3 month rental?
Baez is in his prime right now, so he will be looking for his one last big contract, something like 5/$100 million. And the main problem is, Baez’s skill set does not age well. He does not really have a good batting eye (thus the few walks), so if his bat speed slows down even a little, things could get really ugly really fast for him, offensively. Heck, they’re already pretty ugly. His defense is still good, but again, he’s going to turn 29 in December. Do the Reds really want to be tied to a huge contract of a player who could potentially fall off a cliff in the blink of an eye?
I think it’s still a hard pass.
I guess I was backwardly agreeing with you on the cost – we for sure might not like the prospect we’d have to give up. But I don’t know, maybe it ends up being lighter than we think. He might not even be available if the Cubs plan to QO him.
I of course never want to trade anything for a 3 month rental, but I guess my main point earlier is he for sure upgrades this team. Whether I’d do it or not depends on the prospect. I might be more aggressive than this FO, but I can see their logic if they decide just to ride with what they got and I doubt they’d pursue Baez anyway.
I’m for sure not acquiring Baez with any thoughts of extending him, and I’d be surprised if he gets 5/100MM. I think the SS market is stacked this year iirc
When moose comes back where does he play cause Suarez can’t go back to ss.I say you trade moose for some bullpen help.The reds have shown they can win without him.Farmer has done a good job but they need an upgrade at ss .
I’m expecting Suarez to be back at SS.
I personally like having Farmer in there for his D, his offense is irrelevant IMO. Either way, I think Suarez resumes his place in the middle when Moose is back.
Yes remember this team in April with a bad Suarez at SS but a healthy Moose (pre-India). A .100 to .200 increase in OPS (Farmer for Moose) is going to eclipse all defensive shortcomings.
However, I think playing farmer and resting geno every couple days should be common.
It’s years like this that I hate the All Star Break breaking up a hot Reds team. Oh well.
I wonder why Miley is not in one of the 3 spots after he threw a gem against Brewers in his last start on friday at Milwaukee. Hopefully he is not hurt…
In other side, it seems the injuries are always chasing the few good relievers of the Reds… it is a bad luck really
Thinking they might just want to give Miley some extra rest since he has thrown the most innings of the SP staff.