The Cincinnati Reds activated Mike Minor from the injured list today and optioned outfielder TJ Friedl to Triple-A Louisville.
The news that Mike Minor was activated this afternoon comes as a surprise to no one. After completing his rehab assignment with the Louisville Bats last Friday (6IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB, 9K) the Reds announced that his next start would be with Cincinnati and he’s been listed as tonight’s probable starting pitcher for several days now. The lefty will be looking to rebound from the last two seasons where he posted an ERA of 5.18 while pitching for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and Kansas City Royals.
As for TJ Friedl, he’s back on the shuttle to Louisville (or perhaps Gwinnett since that is where the Bats are currently playing). The outfielder has been up-and-down a few times with Cincinnati this season, playing in 20 games for the Reds in 2022. He’s struggled at the plate, hitting .179/.237/.254 in a part-time role.
Justin Wilson undergoes Tommy John surgery
The Reds announced on Friday afternoon that left-handed reliever Justin Wilson underwent Tommy John surgery (first reported by Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer). That means he will miss the rest of the 2022 season (and at least part of the 2023 season).
Wilson last pitched on April 23rd against the St. Louis Cardinals. He made five appearances in the first three weeks of the season and allowed just one run in his 3.2 innings while walking no one and striking out seven batters. He had a 2.45 ERA when he went on the injured list.
Tough break for Wilson. Hope he heals well. Sadly, TJ seems the “norm” these days for pitchers.
The rules this year limit how many times a player can be optioned. Is Friedl approaching that limit?
Like the 13 roster spots for pitchers, not sure the option limit is being enforced yet. I recall seeing that all options prior to a certain date will not count against the quota (sorry, forget the date but it was in May or even perhaps early June as I recall)).
He has been optioned down 4 times I thought the new rule was 5.
I agree the quota was supposed to be 5. The question is when did they or will they start counting.
I just dug a little and the special exemption for 2022 was that options prior to May 2 would not count toward the quota of 5. I did find any indication that the exemption was pushed back further than May 2.
I thought all those rules took effect next season, but I’m not 100% sure
Reds are really not particularly forthcoming with their injury statuses. I wonder how many others on the IL have yet to be announced season ending injuries?
Why would we want them to be forthcoming? They seem to gain no advantage by doing it.
I still believe in corporate integrity
Fair, but how are you so sure they aren’t providing that in this case or others? Injuries have their own timelines so what teams report is just a guess anyway, and guys get second opinions or try the rehab route all the time. Do we really need to know every detail about someones medical process?
That’s a tricky thing to navigate for an employer given HIPAA laws. I agree we’d like to hear more, but sometimes I’m surprised at how much we actually do hear.
They didn’t have to disclose details, simply transfer him to the 60 day earlier instead of 6 weeks. More like roster manipulation without a real goal in mind. Makes ne wonder about India
I think the Reds should have a “Half Empty Night” at GABP in honor of some of the contributors here. All beers, soft drinks etc. will be served in double sized cups (with the same # of fluid ounces, of course) so folks can complain about them. Or enjoy them being “half full”.
@johnnytv, I’d be happy if they were half full
Friedl has been a little bit of a disappointment to me. a few years back i thought we would have a real strong outfield now of Trammel, Siri and Friedl. interesting how quickly things change in baseball
Based on Friedl’s 2021 season at AAA (.779 OPS)and his matching performance 14 games (36PAs) at the MLB level (.780 OPS/ OPS+ of 100) at the end of the season, it did seem like he might be poised for a breakout season. Unfortunately for he and the Reds his offense hasn’t clicked at either level in 2022.
Tough break for Wilson. I just finished watching
“Late life” on Netflix about Cheing-Ming Wang. The documentary is both heart warming and sad. It really gives you an appreciation of what rehab is like for a professional athlete.
It won’t surprise me if Minor is back on the IL before the month is over
Yet another mysterious season-ending injury for a pitcher whose workload has undoubtedly been closely monitored since at least college. I continue to believe there’s no hard evidence whatsoever to support the theory that pitchers get injured by exceeding arbitrary numbers of pitches or innings. If anything, I’m starting believe the opposite is true. I don’t think there’s any other sport where players are routinely removed from games before showing any signs of fatigue — just because they’ve reached some arbitrary number of minutes or plays. A basketball or football or hockey coach who doesn’t allow his best players to play in overtime just because they’ve been in the game for X minutes/plays would be fired. The explanation “I didn’t want them to get hurt later in the year” would be mocked.
There is undoubtedly evidence that workload leads to more injuries. It’s certainly not the only thing, but there’s clear evidence that pitch workload (pitch counts in terms of how we look at them can and do matter, as does the time between those pitches – which is a reason many are actually against having a pitch clock because it is expected to increase pitching injuries). We can and do measure the stress put on arms now.
And we are seeing it in the NBA over the last few years, too – guys get games off far more frequently now than they used to as a part of workload management. These things are not really debated in the athletic training community.
How about a reference or two to these studies? I would find it interesting to read. If there is “undoubtedly evidence” it shouldn’t be that difficult to come up with several pieces of evidence.
Perhaps doing an extensive article citing the evidence would be something to think about.
The evidence does not seem to reflect the pudding we are getting in mlb. Seems to be theory more than proof.
This game over 5 to 2 already minor giving national hope n chance to beat us in the series now
Minor was given a chance in Oakland last year and he was awful. I don’t get it.
We need to change the name from redlegnation to reds injuries nation.