Organizational Injury Report 8/4/2014 - Quiet on the MLB Front

There hasn't been much "news" on the injuries situations for the Reds on the big league club in the past week.  Brandon Phillips has been doing some fielding drills with a specially designed glove, but is not yet able to do any hitting.  He has been out for not quite a month, and an early September return is plausible.

Joey Votto has also been on the DL for a month, and speculation has it that perhaps the Reds were completely idle at the trade deadline because they feel that it's highly unlikely Votto will return at all this season.  Or perhaps the Reds simply want him to take the rest regardless of how this season or his injury rehab are playing out.  In any case, this is quite an extended absence already for a mere quad strain.  Baseball Prospectus' Collateral Damage report gives 26 games as the average time lost for this injury, and Votto is going to overshoot that by a whole lot.  Which lends credence to the theory that this quad strain was not actually unrelated to Votto's previous knee problems, as the team indicated.  The team's original timetable would have Joey returning in mid-August.

RP Manny Parra returned to game action on August 2 for the first time since July 20.  Parra had been held out for 13 days with back stiffness, but was not placed on the DL.  The Reds really only felt his absence one time during that stretch though, when J.J. Hoover was left in an extra innings game to cover multiple innings and was nearly the last reliever left available.

In the minors, at AAA Louisville, SP Tim Crabbe was activated from the DL on August 1 after missing 28 days with an elbow strain.  2B Donnie Murphy was placed on the 7-day DL retroactive to July 31 with a strained lower back.  RPs Adam Russell (whose relatives I met at a Bats game earlier this year) and Ryan Rowland-Smith were released from the organization on July 28 and August 2, respectively.

At A+ Bakersfield, RP Layne Somsen was activated from the DL on July 30 after missing 38 days with an undisclosed injury, and SP Drew Cisco was placed on the 7-day DL on July 30.

At A- Dayton, OF Jon Matthews was activated on July 30 after missing 14 days with a sprained wrist, RP Scott Brattvet was activated on July 29 after missing 6 days, SS Carlton Daal was placed on the DL on July 29 with a sprained wrist, and OF Jonathan Reynoso was placed on the DL on July 30.

Reds injuries, as always, can be browsed via the link.