The Cincinnati Reds have activated outfielder Nick Castellanos from the 10-day injured list. To create a spot on the 26-man roster the team optioned Max Schrock to Triple-A Louisville.
For Nick Castellanos he’s returning from what was called a microfracture in his right wrist after being hit by a pitch against Milwaukee on July 16th. He made a pinch hitting appearance as the last available player against the Mets on July 19th, and then went on the injured list after his wrist didn’t rebound as hoped. That will make it 17 days since he last played. Castellanos should provide plenty of help for the offense as long as he’s close to the guy he was prior to the injury. When he hit the injured list he was posting a .329/.383/.582 line. The lineup has been posted and Castellanos is right back where he left – hitting third and playing right field.
The biggest problem for the Reds of late, and for most of the year has been the bullpen. But if you score more runs, which Nick Castellanos should help the offense do, does give the bullpen a little more room to work with.
For Max Schrock, he’ll head back to Triple-A. He had a big game against the New York Mets last week when he went 5-5 with a home run. But in his time up he played in 10 games and went 6-15, meaning that in the other nine games he played he was 1-10. He did draw three walks in those other nine games, though.
Mike Moustakas is close to returning
In this afternoons press conference with the media, manager David Bell said that infielder Mike Moustakas could rejoin the team in a day or two. He’s played in four games for the Triple-A Louisville Bats on his current rehab assignment and is hitting .357/.400/.643 with a double, home run, walk, and an RBI. What does seem apparent, though, is that his rehab stint is over. Bell noted that he may arrive back in Cincinnati today, but when he is activated still isn’t determined.
Lucas Sims could return for the weekend
Reliever Lucas Sims is close to returning as well. He’s set to pitch tonight for Louisville and it will be his second outing in as many days. Pitching back-to-back days is usually the final test for a reliever on rehab to make sure they recover properly before being activated. So far he’s made four appearances with the Bats and posted a 4.50 ERA, giving up two solo home runs last night in an inning of work.
Nick Senzel will remain in Louisville for more games
Recovering from having knee surgery, Nick Senzel has only played in three games with Louisville so far. He’s 1-6 with a walk and he also reached on a catchers interference call. He’s going to stick around in Triple-A for a bit longer as he works his way back.
I just don’t see where Nick Senzel fits into the plans for the remainder of the season. Guess I also would rather have seen Schrock kept and Akiyama optioned. Shogo needs to play everyday for a few weeks to see if he is able to turn his hit tool on. Schrock is definitely a better hitter and pinch hitter than him right now with more position flexibility as well
Agree with you on Senzel . I just don’t see him as being that good of a hitter – has not really shown me a lot during his time (that’s when he’s available ) . Dude can’t stay on the field .
I agree. India is what we hoped Senzel would be. If he does play, how long before he is injured yet again? If he could stay healthy he might be able to reach his potential.
OMG, I started reading, saw “Nick” and though you didn’t see how Castellanos fit into the plans. Getting old is really tough, lol.
“thought” not “though”
Akiyama has to agree to an AAA demotion, which he would not do. I agree that Schrock is a better hitter than Akiyama, and better than Suarez and Blandino and Freeman, for that matter.
I would have ditched Freeman rather than Schrock, if the Reds had asked me, which they consistently do not do.
Shogo is 6 for his last 16,
Before Scrock went 5-5, he was o for his 10 .
I see Aquino going out when Senzel comes back.
IDK, Aquino should be starting instead of Naquin at this point. Senzel’s role should be as a utility player.
Unfortunately, nick senzel has shown me nothing that would make me want to activate him over what we have unless there is injury. He needs to be murdering the ball in triple A for me to feel different because there is no sustained track record of good performance in the majors. Starting to Fee that way about sims too.
Great that NC is back- we need his swagger! And I think Moose should replace or platoon with Suarez.
Thank
AGREED! That Akiyama experiment: HOW’S THAT GOING? The Garrett experiment: HOW’S THAT GOING?
Osich, Bray, Hembree??? GO REDS
Stupid move to keep Freeman – understand that he might be the only other shortstop . If you gonna do that , bring
Barreros up , sit Suarez and put Kyle at third .
This front office is a train wreck . Freeman has zero business being on this roster , ZERO !!!!!
100% agree on everything you said.
Blandino is the key to let us do not see Freeman anymore…I think Freeman could be cut off when Blandino gets activated… By the way, any update about him is missing in this article… the question is if it’s better have Blandino in place of Freeman
Freeman is the supersub, to include shortstop. That’s a critical positional need.. Senzel is the only option to even try to replace him and that on the 26. I don’t see where Blandino really fits at all and a pitcher is the most likely exit choice if Moustakis is activated. Maybe Hembree with ‘battle fatigue’ or some other sudden forearm malady ? Could also be Aquino
Freeman has one major characteristic in his favor big time. He bats LH and David Bell loves that. Still though I don’t see that saving him much longer. He will go when Senzel comes back, although with Nick you never know if he will even be back. On another note if Farmer’s game starts taking a dive I would expect he will be placed on the IL and that’s when you will probably see Barrero. As long as Farmer is doing well I don’t see them calling up Jose since Moose will be back. Keep in mind these things are what I think will happen, not necessarily what I would do.
I agree with the Blandino point, and too was wondering on the update on him. To me, he solves the Freeman roster spot and upgrades it (as a PH/PR) temporarily. I’m interested to see if they will consider Suarez the backup/SS once Moose returns, which still would mean Freeman is gone and that is another way to upgrade the bench. At the risk of being a Bell-defender, I’m not sure how it’s his fault that Freeman is on the roster when we’ve know for months that we need a SS. That is on the front office. Farmer is actually bailing them out (which is awesome to see, because he is fun to root for.)
I’m not sure how options work with contract terms, but I wonder if they won’t try to get through another month status-quo to avoid 2021 counting for Barrero. If that gives the Reds control for another year, I can swallow not having him up here for August, especially with how Farmer has played.
RedAlert,
You nailed it! I totally agree with you!
SIT Suarez? He has 21 bombs and he is a talent that is not to be wasted! He is still young and needs to be hitting no lower than 5th in the lineup: in my humble opinion sir.
batting Suarez 8th in the lineup VALIDATES MY POINT as to the managerial skills of David Bell; if not for his last name…
The Lopez rule was just delayed a game. The Reds don’t need .300 hitters, .170 works just fine. Expecting the FO or Bell to leverage the young guys is a pipe dream. Benching India when Moose comes back wouldn’t surprise me one bit. I doubt they sit Suarez.
It is baffling. I agree on India and Moose. Short of an earthquake Suarez isn’t going to sit.
Benching India? What are you smoking/drinking?
India is not getting benched anytime soon. He is a ROY candidate
Thinking any other way is just silly.
1, India- 2b
2. Winker- LF
3. Castellanos- rf
4.. Votto- 1b
5. Moustakas- 3b
6. Stepehnson- c
7. Senzel-cf
8.Farmer- ss
9. pitcher
not bad!
Move Stephenson to #5 to separate lefties Votto and Moose. And move Senzel to #8 until he gets his bearings. Other than that, perfect.
And you can guess the BP will be better when Antone, Sims, Warren rejoin or prospects gonna make the major team in september too… Hopefully there will be enough time
Suarez, you jackwagon
Nick is back. Should provide another emotional boost to the lineup. Here is hoping the Pirates roll over for us like they did for the Brewers. About the Schrock demotion. It was going to happen as he is the only one to option. Some of the other non-performers will be off the roster soon enough.
Neither AA or Akiyama stepped forward that much during his stint on the IL.. We need to restock our bench during the off season.
Well AA did make 2 catches in Wrigley that saved the Reds 5 runs total. Mahle might be on the brink of AAA if Aquino didn’t come to his rescue. I’m not sure Castellanos would’ve got either one. Aquino is inconsistent with the bat, but then so is his playing time.
Next year will be interesting though. I think you could do worse then Farmer, Schrock, Aquino, and Shogo. Unless Farmer is suddenly a .300 hitter with decent power that developed at 31
Well AA is out of options, so you gotta be sure you don’t want him before exposing him to waivers cause another team WIll pick him up.
With the money that he is owed, I don’t see them dropping Akiyama before at least the offseason. Maybe they stick him on the IL for some malady
Barnhart
Suarez
Naquin
Shogo??
On the bench…..
AA also drove in 2 runs with Sac flies on the road trip. The one in Chicago was significant to the outcome. As I recall the one in NYC would have also been significant if the Reds BP had not coughed up the game with 2 outs in the 9th that game. Aquino also pushed the train along in a couple of Reds rallies by taking walks (if they count a positive for some folks (and they should), they count for everybody) and scored a run (or two) as a result.
I think AA also made a couple of big catches in NYC and back at GABP before the Reds went out on the road in addition to the ones in Chicago.
And it is debatable whether the Reds win the Wednesday game versus the Twins without the offensive contributions of Akiyama. He singled and came around to score the Reds 1st run in the 4 run third inning then walked and came around to score the Reds 5th run of the game in the fourth inning.
I like AA better than Shogo though I am not sure about either on whether to keep them or not. I doubt either has a lot of trade value..
AA should have been playing EVERY DAY when Casty was out. That’s what I thought for sure was going to happen but…..David Bell. Because of that we still aren’t much closer to knowing what AA can do with consistent playing time. I agree that he contributes much more than just his bat, which on this team is rare. I also agree that if let go some team will pick him up in a hurry. Probably some team like the Pirates so he can “PUNISH” us 19 games a year.
With the current logjam at third base, it could be time to trade Senzel before he begins bouncing off outfield walls again.
The next chance to trade him is the off season. It would help matters in the meantime if he could get on the field, even at AAA, and stay there while making meaningful contributions.
I second that.
Honestly, If Farmer’s play does go down and still stays healthy enough to be on the roster, I’d rather have Barrero up playing SS and Farmer the “super sub” while Senzel learns how to play again and see if he can stay on the field.
Meaning of course Senzel in AAA.
I am not willing to give up on Senzel just yet. At times, he has looked pretty good. Obviously he had had problems staying healthy, but if we ever get the Senzel we expected the young core of India, Stephenson, Senzel, Green and Lodolo would be pretty exciting.
Sorry I left out Barerros
Same. I think he’s the best CF option aside from turning Mikey B. back into a full-time OF option.
I don’t think you’re even gonna see Lorenzen even bat and therefore risk running to first even for himself for awhile … only as a last resort
Count me in on the not ready to give up on Senzel group.
We will all have a better read on it roughly a couple of months from now. There is almost a third of the season left.
Schrock>Freeman. A blindman can see that. What has Freeman hit in his last 9 or 10 games? It should be a moot point when Moose returns. Freeman will be DFA’d and head to Louisville, as no one is going to pick him up. Got a backup SS for the time being. They’ve made it abundantly apparent that Suarez is not in the plans at SS. So I guess he’ll be platooning with Moose upon his return.
Could be a very fun game to watch. Nick should be primed to rock it out of the gate. And this is the Pie-Rats after all.
On a very sad note, the baseball world has lost a man who, in my opinion, was the greatest pitcher never to be. JR Richard has passed. Houston will take a moment tonight, I hope we do the same.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/08/j-r-richard-passes-away.html
Yes, JR was an all time great.
In both body type and stuff, it’s hard to look at Hunter Greene and not see JR Richard.
Agree. All around.
I was born in 1966 so I loved the BRM as a kid, but I don’t remember ever seeing JR Richard? Games just weren’t on national TV back then unless you were a big market team. I remember Mike Scott. I loved when Ted Turner got the Braves going on TBS. I could watch NL teams on a daily basis. I don’t even think the Reds were on TV on a daily basis in 1970s/Indy because I remember listening on the radio all the time.
I saw all I wanted to see and more of JR as a Reds opponent. He was one of those guys like Clemente that you respectfully disliked as an opponent but wished would someday end up on your team.
I think you are correct about the TV not being daily anywhere. However, if you were in Indy at the time though I am surprised you didn’t get some games on channel 13, WLWI/ WTHR, as the old Crosley/ AVCO regional over the air network (the only type at the time) was the base TV network for the Reds back then. I have heard folks in Columbus, OH say they didn’t get all the games shown here in SW Ohio but got many of them over their former WLWC, Channel 4.
Thats too bad for Schrock. I guess he was due to get sent down at some point for Senzel, but nice bats off the bench are kind of important when you play 1-2 run games every night. What happened to Senzel playing SS? Looks to me like they’re grooming him for CF which is where he usually gets hurt. Not all the time though….he’s versatile! He can hurt in many different ways.
Well if Senzel isn’t the backup SS then Blandino is. That would provide some relief. Freeman provides nothing to nobody. The guy isn’t a household name in his own household! His rap name is DJ DFA
I wouldn’t worry about who goes down to AAA 1st, Schrock, or Freeman. If it were Senzel coming of the IL today, Freeman would have been sent to AAA, but it was Castellanos, so our only back up SS is still here. In a few days or a week Senzel will be up and Freeman will be down. Hopefully when Moustakes gets called up we’ll lose our 14 pitcher, Brach or Doolittle.
Wish we kept schrock instead of freeman to be honest don’t mind shogo or Aquino tho I’m not fan of them to much. Shogo good defense on speed for CF but Aquino strike out a lot as Suarez. Freeman should be sent down or cut because schrock can play first base, outfield and dude had a 5-5 hitting session against stroman what has freeman done for this to stay on roster to sit on bench or anything.
Shogo actually -1 on defensive runs saved vs replacement. Our OF defense is pretty bad which would really be a factor in we somehow made the playoffs and had to play on the west coast in their stadium. Aquino is +1 I think. The best we have defensively
Senzel ain’t Kurt Stillwell. Or if he is he hasn’t even had enough time to show it.
I hope the Reds give him a chance at full time 3B before cutting ties.
Well they aren’t moving $27 mil out of the way for him at 3B? He might be able to get some run at CF if he could use some common sense and stay in the lineup
If they were smart they would have traded Suárez the off-season before Senzel came up—but that’s another topic that most don’t agree with.
Senzel would be 3rd in line at 3B. Objectively the Reds are not going to start him over their 3rd and 5th highest paid players. The best case scenario we can hope for is that Moustakes and Suarez platoon at 3B, with Moose also getting some time at 1B. Senzel has a chance to be a utility at CF, SS, and 2B. Playing that many positions can probably give him another 25 starts this year, if he gets up here soon.
I rip on Senzel all the time. My dream was to be the sergeant from Full Metal Jacket (minus the chest wound) and rip on everyone, but I digress.
Whit Merrifield didn’t play full time til he was 28 and Senzel is only 26. In 2019 in came up in May and had a .821 ops at the end of July with 18 doubles, 8 HRs, and 9 steals. He faded badly that year and has been hurt ever since, but it would be in the Reds best interest to give him another legit chance somehow.
I don’t disagree totally with that point of view. I’d say in 2021 while chasing the Brewers, and Padres for a playoff birth, would not be the time to give him a chance to be an everyday player. Now he could earn that spot back due to a high level of play, or fall into it due to injury, but that would be the only way I’d make Senzel an everyday player this year.
Figuring out if Castellanos is a Red, what to do with Suarez and Moustakes, to me are bigger off-season priorities. If they end up losing 2 of those guys, that would make Senzel an immediate answer as to who takes their place.
22 if you had Barrero SS, Senzel 2B, and Shogo CF, that would be our best defensive alignment. The though would be India 3B, which is where he’d be best defensively. Moustakes / Stephenson 1B, Votto DH. Tucker / Stephenson C, Winker LF Aquino RF. You’d have to find a way to move Suarez, maybe package him with Gray, you’d diminish the return, but the Reds would save a lot of money, and all of the pieces would fall into place. The lineup would also have more speed in it with Shogo, Senzel, and Barrero as everyday guys.
How much of Senzel’s hitting problems stem from the coaches messing with batting stance? Was that in 2019 or 2020? As I remember, he wasn’t particularly complimentary.
@LDS
That is one if my beefs. When he came up he was driving the ball middle away, with some power. Then Turner “Launch Angle Puig’s Friend” Ward started messing with his swing.
That was very bad juju
Again, Freeman is the only one who could back up SS Farmer when the Barrero rule is exercised. So, we are stuck with a pretty sad position bench as a result. Not mentioned, however, is why do we need to maintain 14 pitchers when we just received 4 pretty good replacements recently. David Bell doesn’t even keep Santillan on the active roster but I guess he can’t bear the thought of risking the loss of Hoffman, Hembree, Doolittle, etc.
If there anyone in the media who will ask the manager why no
reliever on staff can pitch more than 1 inning per outing?
Just yesterday, Brach finished 7th and came back for 8th (unsuccessfully) and Lorenzen finished 8th and 9ths (successfully), so maybe that is why no one asks the question.
Maybe he’s not doing it exactly as you would, but I think he’s playing the odds of using them 4/7 games a week for an inning a piece rather than 2/7 for 2 innings a piece. Not to mention the data that points to RP losing effectiveness the longer they go, and some have a hard time getting hot again.
If he has 4-5 solid choices, I think he allow longer stints as he would know the following night he still has 2-3 solid options. When you have 1-2 options, then you kinda sorta hope pray sprinkle fairy dust while dancing with your fingers crossed while they are out there and he probably values keeping more options open every night than maxing out someone who looks good for the first inning that particular night.
I think that’s defendable. Once he has legit BP options, let’s see how he manages them. Until then, the blame falls on the front office.
It’s great news we have castellanos and moose back during this series. Freeman got sent down to triple A great news