The Reds announced that left-handed Andrew Abbott was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactively to August 20 due to a strained left shoulder. Right-handed Alan Busenitz was selected to take his place in the squad. To free up a 40-man spot for Busenitz, catcher Austin Wynn’s was placed on the 60-day injured list.
At this time, the club has not provided any information on when Abbott sustained the injury or how long he is expected to be out. He last had the ball in his hands on Sunday, throwing 83 pitches in five innings. His velocity has dropped off a bit, according to Statcast, with his fastball averaging 91.6 mph. His last start was 92.6 mph, perhaps indicating he wasn’t at 100% last time out.
Regardless, it is an unfortunate development for the Reds and their rotation. Abbott has been a mainstay this year, with an ERA of 3.72 in his 25 starts this season. He and Hunter Greene are the two team leaders in innings, but Greene ended up on the IL last week due to elbow pain. With Abbott now joining Greene on the IL, the club is without the two pillars of its rotation. This is in addition to Graham Ashcraft And Brandon Williamsonwhich are also on the IL.
Absenteeism has been a major issue for the Reds this year. In addition to these pitching issues, their player mix currently consists of Wynns, Jeimer Candelario, Jake Fraley, Christian Encarnacion Beach, Matt McLain And Nick Martini on the IL. They also had no Noelvi Marté for the first 80 games of the year due to a PED ban, lost TJ Friedl to the IL for a while, among other problems.
Despite these challenges, the club sits at 63-64 and is in the race for the playoffs. They are currently five games behind Atlanta in the battle for the final postseason spot in the National League, but staying afloat becomes more difficult when the rotation is in such trouble. Abbott was the scheduled starter today, so the club may need to make some sort of bullpen play and then continue with a rotation consisting of Nick Lodolo, Nick Martinez, Carson Spires And Julian AguiarSpires and Martinez are swingmen who have moved into the rotation due to injuries, while Aguiar was just called up and already has one start in the major leagues.
More to follow.
