Reds Injury Update - Rhett Lowder takes the mound, Noelvi Marte scratched

Scratched, but was he sniffed?

Cincinnati Reds starting pitchers have logged 200.2 IP so far this year, a mark that’s good for the 5th most in all of Major League Baseball. That unit ranks among the Top 7 in each of K/9, BB/9, average fastball velocity, and fWAR through the first month-plus of the season, and has been a bedrock on which this roster has attempted to chase a playoff spot.

So, it’s easy to forget (a bit) that Rhett Lowder, their former 1st round pick and top prospect (according to many) hadn’t thrown a single pitch in a professional game so far this season due to lingering elbow/forearm issues. They haven’t needed him just yet, and perhaps that’s best for the greatest good long-term, with him being 100% at some point later this season potentially vital to the overall depth of the rotation.

Lowder got back on the bump on Tuesday night in Arizona Complex League play, however, and that’s the first step back. He allowed 4 H, 2 ER, and a dinger while fanning 5 (against no walks) in an outing against the ACL Dodgers, a club that just so happened to have future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw pitching for them on his own rehab start on the night, too. Reading too deeply into the box score here is folly, as the most important note is that Lowder was up there tossing pitches at all. He’ll get right in short order going forward, I can only assume.

In other Reds injury news...

• Noelvi Marte was a late scratch from last night’s game in Atlanta with a ‘lingering side issue’ stemming from when he was hit by a pitch when still back in AAA. Considering he was last recalled to the bigs on April 17th (and has done a lot of hittin’ in that time), it’s odd that this is something popping up just now. He’s expected to be out of the lineup again on Wednesday as he is evaluated, with the team’s already razor-thin corner infield depth questions yet again.
• Speaking of which, Christian Encarnacion-Strand remains flummoxed on the IL with ‘back inflammation’ and does not yet have a ramp-up schedule available to the public. Looks like he did pick up a new Toyota Tundra though. Them’s some good wheels, I want one, too.
• Tyler Callihan had surgery to repair the multiple fractures in his left forearm yesterday, and will be out of all activities for up to 8 weeks to let them all heal. Best wishes to the dude, who laid it all completely on the line for the Reds, and my best guess is we hope to see him get some rehab time in the minors after about 12-14 weeks once he’s a) healed and b) at all back to ‘try to hit a baseball’ shape again.
• Sam Moll, who’s been dealing with a shoulder impingement in his left (throwing) shoulder, last appeared for AAA Louisville on May 3rd while on his rehab assignment, and he was tagged for a trio of hits and a pair of earned runs in the process. He threw 21 pitches in the outing, which is good on a durability scale, but we’ve not seen him back since.
• It’s likely that Austin Hays will return from his most recent IL stint this weekend. Keep in mind that this soft-tissue IL stint is not the same as his last IL stint, which was also a soft-tissue problem, but that it’s mildy related to one of his multiple IL stints from last season with Baltimore/Philadelphia (which was also soft-tissue related). That’s why he was relatively cheap!
• Meanwhile, old friend Wade Miley will return to rehabbin’ on the mound on Saturday, per Charlie Goldsmith. He’d returned to rehabbin’ from his elbow surgery only to fall idle due to a groin problem, but he’s apparently over that and ready to do some more rehabbin’. Might the Reds actually run into a glut of starting pitching in the near future?

There are surely more updates to injured Reds and Red-peripherals out there, but these are the ones that are most pertinent to the current equation. Unless you consider Jeimer Candelario pertinent, in which case it’s worth pointing out that he hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment during his current stint on the IL with a ‘being old and not good anymore’ problem.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on that progress when the information is available!