Red Reposter - And Just Like That, The Reds Are Running Short on Outfielders and Starting Pitchers

Injury news
Laynce Nix sprained his ankle beating out an infield single in the 3rd inning last night. It doesn't appear to be very severe though, as he stayed in the game for the rest of the inning and later scored. He's pretty confident that he won't need the DL. "Slowing down, I sort of jammed my ankle into the ground," Nix said. "I didn't roll it or anything too significant. I don't think it's serious. It shouldn't keep me out of action. I should be fine to at least pinch-hit."

Jim Edmonds also hurt himself last night, straining his oblique while fouling off a pitch. He says he hurt it because he was favoring his Achilles, which the Reds knew was hurt when the traded for him. "This has been an ongoing deal with my Achilles and reacting to all the things I've been favoring," Edmonds said. "It's been sore the last week or two weeks. It was getting worse. The last couple of days not playing much, I thought it was going to get better. It gave me a false sense of security."

Edmonds is also optimistic about his chances of avoiding the DL, but you'd have to think Walt would be smart enough to not try to play out the week down 2 lefty bats. On top of all this, Edinson Volquez's pathetic display last night left the bullpen short for the rest of series. Russ Springer will need hip surgery and will be transferred to the 60-day DL, so perhaps that could make some room to bring up and extra arm to help the 'pen.

More injury news
Orlando Cabrera is not walking through that door. He most likely won't be back until they get home from San Francisco. "It seems like I was feeling really good five days ago," said Cabrera, who has been on the DL since Aug. 2. "Just throwing has bothered me. It had me feeling like I'm not ready. I feel good hitting, running and everything. The throwing part, I really want to be 100 percent. I don't even want to take a chance." With both Nix and Edmonds going down in last night's...non-conformity...some were wondering if Lando would be reactivated in their place. After hearing this, I don't think that is likely the case.

This kinda surprised me
You know that contract extension the Reds offered to Dusty Baker last week? It's only for 1 year. Where I come from, a 1-year contract extension is only one step above a slap in the face. If the Reds are only offering 1 year, I can see Dusty turning it down for a multi-year offer elsewhere. If he does, I certainly won't miss his contradictions: "I like the Dodgers and the Giants. I’m from Southern Cal and Northern Cal. I don’t find it weird," Baker said. "I pull for the Giants, too, except when we play them. This is still my son’s team, the team he grew up with. ... I hope we both make it, us and the Giants. It’s hard to pull against friends."

Joey Votto is about to get paid
MLBTR compares him to all the great first basemen who have reached arbitration the past few years and tries to divine what kind of money Joe-Joe will make next season. Ryan Howard was awarded $10 mil in his first year of arbitration, which is a record. Votto likely won't get that much though. I'd love to see a multi-year extension myself, but who knows if Joey even wants that (I'm pretty sure the Reds do).

And he's going to be on the cover of SI
Get to your newsstands early, because I think it's gonna be difficult to keep that one on the shelves in the Queen City.

It looks like the Reds are leaning on bringing Aaron Harang back as a reliever
With the way Volquez looked last night though, there might be an open spot in the rotation here soon. I know the Reds wanted to move Mike Leake to the bullpen to limit his innings, but at this point he may be the best option in the rotation. Volquez is really struggling, as he's walked 27 in his 35 innings this year. I kinda wonder if he could do better out of the bullpen, where he might be encouraged to go after hitters more. I don't know what they are going to do, but this is exactly why there is no such thing as a pitching surplus.

Sad Sammy Sosa is sad
He's so sad because the Cubs haven't retired his jersey number 21. It makes him sad to see Tyler Colvin wear it this season and it makes him so, so sad. You know what makes me sad? Not this.