Prior to today’s doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs the Reds made a whole bunch of roster moves. The team announced that outfielder Jake Fraley has been activated from the injured list (stress fracture in his toe) and that they had called up right-handed pitcher Brett Kennedy from Triple-A Louisville. They also added waiver claim pick ups Harrison Bader and Hunter Renfroe to the 28-man roster (it’s September!). The final move was that Hunter Greene has been placed on the COVID-19 injured list.
Both Harrison Bader and Hunter Renfroe are in the lineup for this afternoon’s game with a left-handed starter on the mound. Bader has crushed lefties this season, posting a 1.079 OPS against them in his 74 plate appearances. Renfroe has not been that good, hitting just .264/.316/.406 against lefties this year against left-handed pitchers.
Jake Fraley is back with the club after missing nearly a month. His last game was also against the Cubs back on August 3rd. Fraley spend two days rehabbing with the Triple-A Louisville Bats. He went 1-8 with a strikeout before being activated today. With him coming off of a toe injury that he’s noted is likely going to require surgery in the offseason to completely fix, and with the addition of two more outfielders to the roster, it seems like he will see a lot of time as the teams designated hitter rather than being asked to run around in the outfield.
Brett Kennedy is re-joining the team from Triple-A as one of the September call ups – at least for now. With the team at 28 players he adds some length to the bullpen. He’s pitched in four games for the Reds this season – making two starts and two relief appearances. While in Triple-A he made 12 starts and one relief appearance with Louisville, posting a 3.52 ERA in 64.0 innings with 20 walks and 57 strikeouts.
Doug do you know if teams can still activate an extra player for DH after September first?
No they can not. That rule only applies from the start of the season through August 31st.
Thanks Doug
This is so exciting, September baseball, pennant race, and we’re making changes to improve the offense. Let’s go get the Cubs.
Maybe those offensive additions will show something in the second game.