The last injury update was nearly a month ago (sorry), but as luck would have it there really was not much to report on in that span anyway. The minor league seasons have wrapped up, leaving the big club as the only producer of injuries, and for the most part it has been quiet. All the big news involves the pitching. Johnny Cueto returned to active duty, and as a starting pitcher, on September 16, after two and a half months on the DL with a lat sprain that has been a recurring problem for a full year. The timing is good, because Tony Cingrani was removed early from his start on September 10 with back spasms. Cingrani spent 15 days on the DL earlier this season for the same problem, and September 10th was his first start back from that. Now, the injury is not healing as well as was hoped, according to Mark Sheldon, who wonders whether Cingrani will be able to pitch at all in the postseason at this point. The postseason rotation, should the Reds move beyond the play-in game, has been a subject of conjecture for months, but hopefully the question doesn't resolve itself via injuries. With the health of Cueto and Cingrani both being somewhat uncertain, the situation feels a bit too reminiscent of last season's NLDS for my comfort. Cueto has missed over three months of the season to injuries, and Cingrani is currently at about one month of the season lost.
Sean Marshall also made his return to the big league bullpen since the last update, pitching on September 17. Over two separate DL stints, Marshall missed five months of action this year with shoulder problems. If healthy, Marshall is a lock for the postseason roster to complement Manny Parra as lefties out of the bullpen. Since returning, Marshall has thrown two clean innings with two strikeouts.
Shin-Soo Choo is currently day-to-day with a thumb injury he sustained on September 20, caused by an ill-advised head-first slide into first base in the last AB of the game. It is expected that Mr. Choo will miss only two games.
In the minor leagues, Rookie league P Nick Routt was activated from the 7-day DL on August 27, where he had spent over two months with an undisclosed injury. A+ P Sean Lucas was also activated August 27 after one and a half months on the DL.
The following minor league players end their seasons on the DL, in AAA: P Ryan Dennick (8/15), SP Chad Reineke (8/19), and P Tim Crabbe (8/31 - turf toe). In AA: OF Bryson Smith (6/16), 1B Marquez Smith (7/11), P Brian Pearl (7/14), and 2B Brodie Greene (7/20). In A+: P Blaine Howell (4/4), 1B Sean Buckley (4/11), P El'Hajj Muhammad (6/3), P Mike Dennhardt (7/28), RP Kyle Lotzkar (8/3), and 2B Ryan Wright (8/28). In A-: P Wes Mugarian (6/13), P Mike Saunders (7/8 - elbow sprain), OF Phillip Ervin (8/16), OF Jesse Winker (8/18), SP Drew Cisco (8/23 - shoulder strain), and RP Chad Jones (?). In the Rookie league: P Dan Langfield (6/20).
AAA RP Justin Freeman went on the DL on April 24 with shoulder impingement and is no longer in the Reds organization. A- P Kevin Arico began the year on the DL (I believe), but is no longer in the Reds organization. If injuries ended their careers with the Reds organization, I hope they can find opportunities with other teams to continue pursuing their dreams. As always, the state of injuries in the Reds organization can be found in the Reds Injury List.