Spencer Steer scratched from DH duties, received cortisone shot in sore shoulder

This is fine. Surely, this is fine.

Spencer Steer arrived at spring training in Goodyear, AZ with a balky shoulder. It wasn’t supposed to be a problem, we were told, and he was set to DH before beginning a throwing program to ramp up for the grueling six month regular season.

This was apparently an issue dating back to the final throes of the 2024 regular season, too. Despite it lingering for half a year, nobody seemed to think it was anything concrete, with specialists and the like suggesting there was nothing structurally wrong with the most important joint in the pro-player’s body.

Then, his throwing ramp-up was halted due to lingering soreness. Today, Steer was scratched from DH duties for Cincinnati’s spring game altogether, with MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reporting that Steer received a cortisone shot said shoulder and has ‘no timetable’ for his return to even the limited duties he’d been serving so far.

It’s a very encouraging thing that everyone still seems to think there’s nothing seriously wrong with Steer’s shoulder. However, it’s a very, very discouraging sign that six/seven months after this issue cropped up they’re all still befuddled with how to get it fixed.

We’re what, 26 days away from Opening Day now?

Should Steer join the presumptive likes of Rhett Lowder, Wade Miley, and Andrew Abbott on the ‘not quite ready for prime Opening Day time players’ list, the Reds at least have built in quality depth and versatility to replace him for a time.

Where does Steer play, anyway? 1B with the likes of Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeimer Candelario? LF with the likes of Gavin Lux, Austin Hays, and/or Will Benson?

To be clear, losing Steer for any time would be problematic. Over the last two seasons, no Red has hit more dingers (43) or popped more ribbies (178) than Steer, and his .771 OPS in that span is tied precisely with that of Elly De La Cruz. He’s a vital part of what hopes to be a more potent offense than the one from a year ago, but obviously he’ll need to be closer to 100% for that to happen.

Fingers crossed this sorts itself out with the help of some sweet, sweet cortisone. For now, though, we wait and see.