The Cincinnati Reds have made a set of roster moves today before game one of their series at home against the Cleveland Guardians. Spencer Steer is heading to the 10-day injured list with a wrist injury. The team has recalled Ivan Johnson from Triple-A Louisville to take the spot that was vacated on the roster.
Buster Olney of ESPN reports that Steer will “miss significant time”. The Reds reported Steer’s injury as a right wrist sprain.Olney’s report was not too specific with what “significant time” means. We may get better information from manager Terry Francona when he meets with the local media before tonight’s game against Cleveland.
Update: 6:pm ET
Steer spoke to the Reds media before the game. He noted that he “didn’t tear a tendon” but did have a partial tear of the sheath and “the hope is that the partial tear will heal and I’ll be back ready to go,” which was reported by Reds.com’s Mark Sheldon. In about two weeks he will get re-examined and they will go from there.
Steer, who may have potentially been a player teams were interested in acquiring at the trade deadline, could still be moved but it is more unlikely now with his injury. He wouldn’t reach free agency until after 2028 so teams could still be interested in him as a more of a long-term solution to a need. But a team looking for immediate help at the deadline could look elsewhere as Steer is likely going to be missing more than the minimum if Olney’s reporting is accurate.
Ivan Johnson will be making his second appearance with the Reds after being called up in late June and spending some time with the team before he was optioned back to Louisville. He played in four games and went 0-5 with a walk during that time.
Yesterday he played for Louisville in the series finale in Toledo and he went 1-4 with a home run. It was his 10th of the year for the Bats in his 61st game. He’s hit .278/.373/.474 for Louisville this year and he’s added in 11 steals on the bases. The switch-hitter will likely resume his previous role with Cincinnati as a utility guy who can pinch hit or pinch run or come in to play defense if and when needed, but isn’t likely to get much time on the field as a starter.
Maybe McLain will be activated soon so this big league stint for Johnson would be short
Alright, there goes the trade rumors. Does miss significant time mean ligament damage? Callup of Johnson interesting. He’ll have another chance to get his first hit. I guess the FO wants HRod to get consistent ABs for Louisville until after the deadline.
If he is still moved his value return will certainly be diminished.
Injuries like this have ruined careers. I would think safely a month at the least.
They haven’t even identified the injury, have they?
Benson remains an option too. He can play CF and RF but can’t hit any better than MM or TJF. I don’t desire to debate who might be the better choice. 26th man roster spot and possibly temporary. Who cares? Johnson can play IF and OF positions. MM seems just as capable.
The Reds lineup gets weaker on the offense with Steer being sidelined for a “significant time” … Marte and Arroyo will get more playing time for sure
Friedl tonight. No Marte.
Tito Francona will not play Marte unless he only has two other outfielders left. Marte is in a big doghouse with Tito, and he is not going to play him.
Let’s play TJ Friedl instead. He is hitting great….well, not really. Well, at least he hits HR….no, not really.
And right field, Friedl has a great arm….no, not really.
Why is he in the doghouse?
We don’t know that he is in the doghouse. It’s fun to speculate. Marte does play: he played yesterday. It’s possible that he doesn’t play all of the time because he doesn’t hit well.
Maybe a blessing in disguise. I don’t know why the Reds are trying to trade outfielders anyway.
I had the same thought, V4L.
Steer is a .240 lifetime hitter with slightly above average power who has hit .238 since the beginning of 2025. I like his leadership but he is basically an average utility player.So if someone is willing to offer a quality trade I don’t think the organization will be worse.
Spencer has a career OPS+ of 102 so he is what he is and has been and will be.Reds are what they are and have been and will be and on this team Spencer is a key player.He was drawing interest as a utility player that can play all over as a right handed platoon bat.He is a much better hitter against lefties.The Reds need hitters and he is in until better ones show up.Hope he heals up and is ready to go next year or sooner.
Trade an average player, get an average player (maybe two average minor leaguers).
Maybe he’ll finally get a hit. Seemed like a good time to call up HRod instead of player that’s nearly 28 and who faces long, long odds of every being consequential.
Because, I think, in a roster crunch, Ivan Johnson could be DFA’d, with no real loss to the system. While Hector is already on the 40 man, they may want to keep his options intact.
If I was running the Reds, I would probably call up Hector now, but lets let Nick Krall be Nick Krall. They still want to keep the illusion they are in the WC race, for attendance reasons. But actually, calling up Hector might generate a little excitement for the Reds. I know there was huge excitement when Elly was first called up.
Knowing that HRod cannot play CF I doubt they call him up until they get a semi permanent spot for him. For right now they think Bleday and Marte ARE the corner outfielders. It doesn’t seem like they’re willing to put either one in CF.
He has already been optioned after Spring Training so if he is up, then then returned it is still just one option.
I think we would be extremely optimistic to think Steer would be back before September 1. This injury might be season ending. I could see him on 60-day ILif they need a 40-man spot.
From MLB Trade Rumors:
“Per Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie’s Chalkboard, Steer has a partial tear of a sheath in his wrist and will be in a splint for two weeks. The hope is that he can heal in that time and avoid surgery, though he will presumably need some kind of ramp-up and/or rehab assignment at that time.”
Sounds like it will at least 3-4 weeks before we could see Steer back.
It may require offseason surgery
If that is the case they should do it now and not try to speed him back. I still believe McClain’s big issue was a forced recovery to try to get him back in September thr year he was injured.
This “do it now” regarding surgery has been discussed before with other players. This has been said: surgery carries its own risks and has no guarantees. When there is a possibility of non-surgical healing, it’s reasonable to follow that path. Presumably Steer will have–or has had–a conversation with the surgeon and, presumably. the course of action will be Steer’s to decide.
Spencer Steer is probably done for the season. Let’s not be unrealistic about this. Healing time, and in 4 weeks, the Reds will be technically out of the race, but not mathematically eliminated yet. Why push him back out there when he is still injured for a team out of the race?
Probably in about 2 weeks, when the splint comes off, it will not have healed properly, and he will have surgery, giving him the whole off-season to heal and re-habilitate.
Just don’t do anything till spring training and then see if he can play if not then surgery. Does that sound familiar or what
Yep. This sounds just like a bunch of ignorant comments by wannabe doctors who think they are in a position to make healthcare decisions for other people that we heard earlier. Let’s let those in the know make healthcare decisions and you just stick to trolling message boards. OK?
He will get in the red-light therapy room, and everything will heal quickly from a deep cellular basis. They will play him in Louisville for two or three games to get some timing back. Won’t be long.
Lodolo, Steer…..seems like any meaningful selloff/retool is off the table.
Guess their only choice is to go on a long winning streak cuz baseball is weird like that lol.
And it’s Friedl with the start and not Marte. I wonder if he will ever get an extended run or just be seen as a 4th OF/platoon player.
Unless there is more then Friedl in tonight in Marte out it is obvious Marte is on the way out of the organization.Marte lost playing time early to Benson which I never understood then to Myers Friedl Dunn and I get that because he doesn’t play centerfield.I got it when Steer played right and Bleday was in left but tonight with Friedl in left and Bleday in right I don’t.Even after last years above average year on offense he has been a part time player and well he is done it looks like.
Looking like a rainout tonight or at least a long, long rain delay…
Move the team to Nashville. At least you do not get the frequent rain delays.
“Move the team to Nashville. At least you do not get the frequent rain delays.”
Spoken like a man from TN. 😉
*** All new stadiums should have a retractable roof.
Happy for Ivan.
It goes to show if you stick in the minors long enough (even if you never become much of a prospect) you may still get a chance to make it to the major leagues.
Maybe in a year or two, even Hendrick or Urbaez may get their cup of coffee in Cincy.
Ivan looks wonderful in that Cincinnati uniform. Now get on base!