Mat Latos made his first start for the Reds on Saturday June 14, and it was a very encouraging return for the Reds co-ace. Latos went 6 IP 2H 4K, with nothing else on the pitching line. He had been having problems with his surgically repaired meniscus since showing up for Spring Training, but originally was not expected to miss even a single start for the regular season. That turned out to be overly optimistic even before Latos had a setback from a strain in his flexor mass tendon, and all told, Latos missed 74 days and 66 team games to these injury problems, not counting Spring Training time. Several roster gyrations were needed to add Latos back to the roster after his 60-day DL stint. Tony Cingrani lost his rotation spot due to a combination of ineffectiveness and a desire to limit his innings, and he was moved to the bullpen. From the bullpen, Sean Marshall was placed back on the 15-day DL on June 14 with a shoulder strain. Marshall was brought off the DL for the same problem on April 20 with the idea that he would pitch himself back to full strength at the MLB level. That turned out horribly for both Marshall and the Reds, as Marshall put up a 7.71 ERA throwing a mere 14 innings over nearly two months in the bullpen.
On the offensive side of the ledger, Joey Votto returned to the Reds lineup on June 10, and the Reds offense has certainly responded nicely through 6 games so far. Votto has put up a .348/.423/.478 line since returning, and as he indicated he would, has begun to use the pull side of the field much more frequently and effectively to generate better results. The offense has scored over 5 runs a game since his return as well, thanks to a 13-run outburst on Sunday. It was the second time this year the offense has scored more than 8 runs. I don't want to reprint the offense's triple slash during Votto's absence, but safe to say that the offense will be greatly improved moving forward with Joey in the lineup, especially if Jay Bruce starts to resemble himself.
In the minor leagues, it was place one player on the DL and put another one on for free weekend in the Reds organization. At AAA Louisville, June 11 saw SP Pedro Villareal go on the DL with a strained right forearm, along with SP David Holmberg (whose serious troubles I hope can be blamed on the injuries) and corner infielder Mike Costanzo, who had only been off the DL for two weeks.
At A+ Bakersfield, RP Sean Lucas was placed on the 7-day DL on June 11 also.
At A- Dayton, 2B Sammy Diaz was placed on the DL on June 12 with a sprained left ankle, and RP Nick Routt went on the DL with a strained lower back. OF Jeff Gelalich was activated from the DL on June 12 as well after missing 13 days.
Reds injuries can be found via the link.