Last night we had an inkling that someone on the 26-man roster was going to wind up on the injured list with reporting that Tyler Callihan was joining the team on Wednesday. This morning we found out who that person was going to be. Cincinnati played infielder Jeimer Candelario on the 10-day injured list with a lumbar spine strain and that move is retroactive to Monday. The Reds then made it official and added Callihan to the 26-man roster in his place.
It’s been a rough start to the season for Jeimer Candelario. And that’s putting it about as nicely as one can. He’s gone 9-80 so far this season. That’s a .113 batting average. His on-base percentage is just .198. And he’s slugging .213. His .410 OPS is good for a 13 OPS+ (where 100 is league average). That’s basically what pitchers hit back when they hit.
With the emergence/hot start by Noelvi Marte over the last two weeks, Candelario’s time on the field declined. Then he told the team that his back wasn’t feeling great and he got checked out (along with Austin Hays, who got an MRI but was not placed on the injured list – but is not in today’s lineup for game one). The team doctors found something going on with his back and now he will get some time off to rest and recover, hopefully the things he needs to get back to where the club needs him to be on the field.
The move to bring Tyler Callihan in gives the Reds another option with a guy who can play multiple positions. Callihan is in the lineup for game one, starting in left field and set to make his big league debut. 2019’s 3rd round pick, he’s been on base in all 23 games this season for Louisville in which he’s had a plate appearance (he pinch ran in a 24th game and never came to the plate).
With Triple-A Louisville this season, Callihan has hit .303/.410/.528 in his 24 games played. While he’s hit well against both lefties and righties this season, he’s hit better against right-handed pitcher. In 74 plate appearances against righties he’s posted a .328 average, a .438 on-base percentage, and he’s slugged .525.
You can see Tyler Callihan’s career stats here.
My back starts to get sore when I’m sitting too much, as well. It’s part of getting old, I guess, and those benches in the dugout dont look all that comfy. Get right, my dude.
Yes, and try to avoid thinking about Wally Pipp.
Pipp was a Red in the 1920s.
Pipp was at the back end of his career when Gehrig happened. He had a 10 year OPS+ of 108 (107 in 1924) and 29.2 career bWAR when the 1925 season started.
Just always like to put a word in for him 😉
Yeah, it has to be frustrating for Candelario knowing he isn’t performing well enough to stay in the line up.
Thank you for saying this. I always try to remember that no one is more aware of a player who is struggling badly than the player who is struggling badly. For his sake, i hope he gets right.
That picture of Callihan looks like a person waking up after having too many beers at the block party.
+1,000 for the comment and another +1,000 for the avatar 😀
Either that or he’s having that Grandpa Simpson realization: “Im not wearing any pants.”
“Dude, where’s my car?”
We could get about 200 responses on this photo alone.
I lost my glove again? WTH!
“Wait, Gavin Lux is my father?”
🙂
Here’s hoping the best for Candy as he properly rehabs. Hoping Hays comes through his hammy challenge quickly.
Sorry to hear that Candy has a brain strain, I mean lumbar strain. For some reason, a baseball psychologist sounds beneficial to me. He’s hit before.
I’m guessing its a good chance that we never see Candelario in a Reds uniform again. Especially if Callihan shows the same ability he’s shown in Louisville so far.
Maybe, but they will give him a bunch of rehab ABs in AAA before they DFA him. If he gets his swing back, they will keep him.
My thought too. Not quite time to drum Candelario into the sunset just yet.
The Roman Coliseum thumbs down vibe isn’t a great look.
I wonder how long his back has been bothering him. He has looked stiff and bad at basically everything all season long.
Didn’t he come into camp slimmed down and looking buff, then a week or two in, have to sit out for a while? I was not following that closely yet, and do not recall what his ailment/ injury was.
Maui what i noticed (besides stiff) is he didn’t have any life in his swing. No bat speed.
The opening series he seemed to be swinging the bat well. He just went downhill after that. I think he had 4 of his 8 hits this season during the first two games..
Not unexpected. Hopefully, it makes a difference down the road. And at least, it’s not Hays. Maybe Hays rebounds quickly and doesn’t wind up on the IL in the next couple of days.
Now that Candelario is out of the way for awhile, they can protect Hays by DHing him.