On a day when the Cincinnati Reds picked up reliever Hunter Strickland to bolster their pitching, a bunch of bad news about other pitchers on the roster started to come out. Manager David Bell told the media in Goodyear this afternoon that Luis Castillo was shut down for a day with a sore shoulder and that he could miss opening day. Castillo is back to throwing (C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports here) and it’s still possible he doesn’t miss any time. If Castillo has to be placed on the injured list to begin the season it would be the first time in his career that it has happened.
It’s not just Castillo that’s been dealing with a sore shoulder, though. Mike Minor also dealt with a sore shoulder, which may be why he’s yet to pitch in a game this spring. He is back on track according to Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Perhaps the biggest news among the pitchers and shoulder injuries, though, is that Justin Dunn is expected to miss at least a few months with a shoulder injury. Dunn, who was acquired from the Seattle Mariners last week in the trade that included Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suárez, last pitched in the big leagues on June 17th of 2021 when he exited with a shoulder injury. He began a rehab assignment on September 17th in Triple-A Tacoma. After his 4th pitch he exited the game with the trainer.
If Justin Dunn is going to miss a few months from today, that’s likely to mean he’s going to go over a year between appearances in the big leagues due to a shoulder injury that didn’t require surgery. This begs a lot of questions. The first would be what exactly is going on in a guys shoulder that would cause him to go three months before returning to the mound for four pitches and then another 6+ months and counting (we are currently at the 6 month point since he made that ill-fated 4-pitch rehab appearance in Triple-A)? The Mariners doctors examined Dunn’s shoulder and determined it didn’t need surgery. Cincinnati’s team of doctors seemed to come to the same conclusion. Just a strange situation all around.
Jose Barrero to have surgery
After getting a second opinion on his injured left wrist on Monday, this afternoon Jose Barrero is set to have surgery to remove the hamate bone. The Reds are saying that he is expected to miss approximately six weeks.
Once again we are dealing with cheap retreads and imagine that Dunn is hurt. Sell the team Bob.
Dunn being damaged goods just makes the Winker/Suarez dump an even bigger kick in the groin.
This front office has to be among the worst in all sports, not just baseball. Just can’t believe they are running the team I root for. They certainly make it difficult to care about the Reds– if the front office does not try to win, why then should I invest my time, money, and energy in this team? ?
Just have to think that this very basic notion has been forgotten by Reds management…
Did we get the player to be named later that is supposed to be so good? Maybe we get the old OF prospect back since he will probably not make the team. Bubba Trammell.
I think Dunn was the least significant part of that deal. I like the Fraley and Williamson pickups and think it wasn’t a bad return for dumping the Suarez contract. And while I like Winker, I also like the direction they are going in picking up players who can play defense and run.
What if Suarez returns to form as he appeared to be at the end of last season and Winker repeats last year’s offensive performance as he likely will. Then it will be the most lopsided failure trade in Red’s history since the Frank Robinson trade. I think the two of them made around 20 million collectively. Not a lot of money for what they likely produce.
Alan: Considering that Williamson is not a known MLB quantity, it’s too early to call the trade a failure, isn’t it? Suarez might return to form and Winker may well hit (but maybe not in more than 113 games) RH pitching, but even with them, even with them and Castellanos, the team was unlikely to be a serious contender this season, and none of them would likely be key players in 24 and beyond when the young guys will be coming into their own.
Alan, what if Winker gets hurt? What if Suarez doesn’t perform better and still is a negative WAR player and with $30M left? What if 6 years of Brandon Williamson is the best part of the deal? What if the player to be named later is good? What if Justin Dunn is good in any of the next 4 years? The Reds have four more years of Justin Dunn. Because of Dunn’s injury he may not get paid much when it comes to arbitration in ARB1 starting 2023, but he could still end up being very good in the latter years of the deal.
“If” is the biggest word in the dictionary. Winker was an all star and Suarez hit over 30 HRs in an off year. Two years ago he hit 50. I think both had annual contracts worth around 10 million which in Winker’s case is a steal. Williamson hasn’t been proven yet at AAA much less the majors. The Reds need offense worse than anything and they greatly subtracted from it with all the moves. I have been around a long time and I know poor management when I see it. I have seen it in industry as well. Let’s check back in around August and see who is correct.
You’re right about “if,” Alan, but the ifs apply to Winker and Suarez, as well. My point was that it’s premature to call the trade a failure.
There was a daily narrative here @ RLN last summer on if Suarez hit a hot streak to trade him immediately because his contract was so poor and his performance so poor- a mere shadow of his former self, swinging for the fences and all pull and 200 K’s. I hate to see Winker leave because hitting is a top tool and he had a big hit tool. BUt, as others have said, his defense was poor, he was injury prone and he couldn’t hit lefties well.
I’m encouraged to see 2 new pitchers in the Reds top 7 prospects via MLB pipeline today to add to Greene and Lodolo and both are above Ashcraft. That’s a SP pipeline. All glad to see and a blank slate of contracts in 2024. If Moose could magically create some value for himself at the deadline with some GABP 3 month magic, this team could be set for a reboot as early as 2023.
If this guy was already injured why did the Reds allow this trade to happen? How did MLB let this trade happen? This player to be named later better be pretty decent or this deal was terrible just like all the rest of them that Krall has performed.
The only decent trade I have seen Krall do to this point is the deals he made to get us some decent relievers at the trade deadline last year. Everything else has just been terrible for what we have gotten back in return.
No doubt the worst Reds management in my lifetime. Worse than Dick Wagner and that is pretty bad. They basically just gave away/ didn’t resign 5 of their best players. I feel pretty confident in predicting that it is going to be a long season. It will be 2-3 years before most of the young position prospects arrive if they indeed arrive at all. Pitching can’t win by itself. They have thrown in the towel in the interim.
Alan, I totally disagree. I love all of the trades and signings except for Mike Minor. Selling at peak value and freeing up payroll space enables a bright future for the Reds when considering their prospects. The Reds were around a .500 team and weren’t going to get enough over the hump. It’s best to rebuild early and then the rebuild takes 2-3 years vs. 2 more average years and a 5 year rebuild. It’s smart and the trades netted a fantastic return. The fans all complained that Bob held onto his favorite players and then got nothing in trades for them. Now, the Reds get a huge return and fans are still complaining. The Reds still have exciting prospects and will definitely be competitive.
I guess we just have to agree to disagree. I thought getting rid of Garrett any way we could was a good move. If Minor matches his stats last season it will be a win. The Reds don’t have any position players above class A that have much promise. Even those at class A level and below may not turn out. Check out the success rate of a minor league played reaching the majors and being a solid contributor. You can’t depend entirely on development. You have to mix in wise trades and FA signings. Some on here think the minor league players are going to lead us to success without supplements from trades and FA signings. The Rays model won’t hold up long term. It puts too much pressure on development doing the job alone. Besides, the Rays haven’t won the WS lately.
Ohhh jeez…
Trading for a guy with a bum shoulder. Classic Reds.
Majewski’d
The Reds don’t think of these transactions as “trades”, they are reductions in overhead.
Never forget when Bowden sent the reds spoiled goods
The Reds are a fraud, like used car salesmen pasting a bumper on an old junker.
Images of Harry Wormwood from “Matilda” super-gluing on car parts.
That is who i thought of, Krall is Harry Wormwood
Theres a number of sites that have depth charts and its an interesting exercise to look at The Reds thin depth chart with their exodus of players and now mounting injuries in the SP rotation and an already thin bullpen.
Squinting – I cant find 78 wins.
I can see 75 in the distance
I can see 72 wins front and center
Sub 70 wins isnt out of the question.
A losing April is very real and a horrendous April isnt out of the question
https://www.espn.com/mlb/team/depth/_/name/cin/cincinnati-reds
I agree our schedule is rough the first month or so. The Reds could be bust by the end of April already based on the Scheduled opponents. I’m thinking if somehow the Reds stayed around .500 for the month that would be successful for them.
For this team to win 78 games a lot of things would have to go right. The Reds had a much better team last season and only won five more than that.
For me:
absolutely best case scenario = 73 wins
Most likely results = 68-70 wins
Significant time lost to Cueto, Mahle, Votto, India, Stephenson or Senzel = 100 losses
Cueto????
PTBNL. Lol I meant Castillo. I have Cueto on the brain since the Reds weee rumored to be interested in signing him. That has been a week ago. Probably won’t happen. It’s a shame I like Johnny.
For less, whatever GM in other organization would have been fired but not in the Sell-the-team-Bob one…
How can you for a guy who is following instructions?
You know, some other people in history were “just following instructions.” Gonna let them off the hook too?
I think you are right MK. The Reds need a change in ownership. Castellini promised a winner and hasn’t delivered. Give someone else a try.
I hope, Mr. Chandler, that your comparison was completely tongue-in-cheek.
I like Dunn and think in the long run he’ll be a good addition to the rotation. If the Reds knew about his shoulder then they must not be too worried about it in the long run. It also kind of works out with the rest of the rotation too.
Castillo, Mahle, Gutierrez, Minor have their spots in the rotation but now Lodolo, Greene, and Sanmartin can rotate at the 5th spot until Dunn comes back.
Ted Power was a sore arm pitcher when the Reds acquired him from the Dodgers and he turned out to have a few good years.
But yeah, the next couple of seasons look pretty bleak.
I’m am not as high on the farm system as others, so I’m not sure there is an end in sight. Perhaps if the Reds traded current talent for future talent I would be more optimistic, but other than the 19 year old they picked up for Sonny Gray they really haven’t obtained any real prospects.
Rebuilds are never guaranteed, even if you make great decisions. Make poor decisions and you end up with a lost decade or two. I’m afraid that is exactly where this franchise is headed.
At my age, I don’t have a lot of years remaining. Certainly not decades. I have probably seen my last Red’s championship. Maybe their last post season appearance.
In addition to Beatty for Gray, Williamso, who they got from Seattle former 2nd round pick, Quintana they got for Tucker former 2nd round pick. Getting a Supplemental 1st round pick for Castelleanos should be a quality prospect. So they have gotten some future in these moves. Still not enough
MK, you are correct the Reds did get back more talent than I mentioned. But still, I think you are very lucky if 1 of 3 prospects pan out. I imagine it’s probably closer to 1 in 5.
A successful rebuild takes a lot of talent and a lot of luck. Remember, a few years ago, a lot of us thought the Red’s window was going to open as soon as Phillip Ervin and Robert Stephenson became established at the major league level. Sometimes the future just never comes.
I just don’t see the Reds system as flushed with talent as say the Astro’s system was in 2012-2015. I truly hope I am wrong.
Always enjoy your comments MK. Thank you
I agree. A successful rebuild involves not only development, but smart trades and FA signings as well. They seem to have done OK on the development but fall far short on trades and FA signings.
Let’s hope Dunn comes back strong next year so he can be traded.
Maybe Justin Dunn is Adam Dunn’s love child and the sore shoulder came about trying to throw strikes to his dad when he was but a lad and his dad was still raking.
I think it is interesting how CIN is handling Luis Castillo this year. Since he is absolutely horrible in cold weather to start the season, and since Spring Training is shortened because of the oligarchs (I mean owners) locking out the players, it makes sense moving his start date back a bit and letting some of CIN’s other SP’s see if they can earn a continued rotation spot. I assume this specifically means that Tony Santillan will get the chance to slot in the rotation in Castillo’s spot and if he runs with it, he’ll bump someone out upon Castillo’s return. If not he’ll slide to the pen where he was light’s out last year.