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Redsland held its collective breath when news came out that Joey Votto may be experiencing problems with his surgically repaired left knee again. Votto missed most of 2012 due to a torn meniscus, and many have hoped that his various struggles in 2013 were also due to lingering effects that were (hopefully) supposed to subside as time went by. However, MRI results showed no structural damage to the knee, and the injury is currently being labeled a quad strain. Votto has been sidelined since May 16, and the hope is that no DL trip will be necessary at all, though this will be discussed further by the organization and nothing seems to be set in stone at the moment. The lineup is in rather dire shape without Votto, since Jay Bruce is already sidelined with a torn meniscus himself.
Devin Mesoraco returned from the DL for a second time this year on May 16. He had been sidelined since April 25 with a strained oblique, and once again, not even weeks of idleness has managed to cool his scorching start one bit. After a 4-4 performance in the rubber match with Philadelphia, Meso now has an insane .500/.541/.870 slash line, and he leads all MLB catchers in both fWAR and bWAR despite having played in a measly 15 games on the season (out of 42 team games). It might be time for him to move directly into the heart of the lineup; with the current injury situation, it almost seems ridiculous that he's not there already, frankly.
Mat Latos has been transferred to the 60-day DL. He threw a bullpen session on Saturday, and is scheduled for a simulated game on Tuesday, May 20. At this point, a return by the end of this month or early June is looking not very likely to me. He has been throwing bullpen sessions for over a month, and a simulated game is not much of a step up. Eventually he will continue rehab via minor league starts, but a timetable for that has not been announced.
In minor league news, OF Sebastian Elizalde (A- Dayton) returned to the active roster on May 12. He had been sidelined for 11 days.
Organizational injuries can be tracked via the link.