Cincinnati Reds links for April 14, 2016

First let's take a moment to wish Fox Sports Ohio Reds color analyst Chris Welsh a very happy birthday. HI, CHRIS!

As you may have noticed last night (before you turned the game off during the bottom of the 1st to save your sanity), Zack Cozart and Devin Mesoraco were both absent from the Reds lineup in their second match up with the Cubs at Wrigley. This is concerning, of course, because both are fresh off significant injuries and surgeries. Considering the off day, one would've hoped that each would've had enough time to heal before first pitch.

That wouldn't be the case.

After the game, C. Trent Rosecrans over at the Enquirer caught up with the ailing Reds vets, and luckily they both seem to be pretty close to getting back into action.

Cozart was lifted prematurely from Monday night's affair after the quad above his surgically repaired knee tightened up on him. He managed to play through the pain until the fourth inning, but ultimately couldn't make it through. Apparently when he was pulled, he was having trouble even lifting his leg.

Mesoraco was also dealing with a sore quad that flared up on him during his second at bat. By the end of the game, he was having trouble even running, which was evident to anyone who was watching the game at the time. He was also chasing pitches into the dirt every other throw, and I'm sure that didn't help.

Cozart seems pretty close to being back, however, as he said the off-day did him a world of good, and he's already resumed hitting and doing drills. The good news for Mesoraco is that he's not dealing with soreness from his surgically repaired hip. In fact, it's on the other side all together. Price described him as day-to-day.

Speaking of injuries, C. Trent was also able to get the low down on the plethora of starting pitchers the Reds are waiting on to get healthy. Here's the highlights:

• Anthony DeSclafani threw a bullpen session before the game yesterday, and depending on how his body reacts, will probably be sent on a minor league rehab assignment soon.
• John Lamb should be making his AAA debut this weekend for his rehab start.
• Homer Bailey was hit in the foot with a line drive, which may alter his timeline a bit, depending on how he feels for his next start. It's not anticipated this will be a long lasting issue.
• Michael Lorenzen has died of dysentery. I'm kidding, but at this point, the kid has gone through so many maladies that nothing would surprise me. He's back at baseball after his bout with mono, but seems pretty far away.
• Jon Moscot appears to be in line for what will hopefully be the final game of a Reds series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. The Reds have yet to make it official, but one would speculate that it would signal the end of Tim Melville's time with the big league club. At least for the time being.

In other news, Billy Hamilton hit a home run on Monday night, which is pretty big news in itself. Normally, that means you don't have to hustle your hardest around the bases. That's why they call it a home run trot. But when it comes to running, Billy Hamilton isn't normal. Hell, he's barely human.

So when he lifted the ball to deep left off of Jon Lester in the Cubs home opener, Hamilton took off out of the batter's box like only Billy Hamilton can. The end result: the fastest home run trot Statcast has ever recorded (since it started recording in 2014).

So, why did Billy think he needed to complete his round tripper in 16.2 seconds?

"I didn't know it was a home run. If you don't know it's a home run, you can't expect it to be home run when you don't hit home runs."

Never change, Billy.

Newest Enquirer scribe Zach Buchanan manned the BAR today and managed to point out a troubling early trend from the lineup this season: hitting into double plays. Before last night, the Reds were second in the National League for the dubious honor, and then they went and hit into 3 more.

Most troubling is that it isn't youngsters/part-timers like Tucker Barnhart or Scott Schebler causing the problems. Eight of the 11 GIDPs have come from Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, or Devin Mesoraco, all of whom the Reds have obviously pinned their offensive life on.

As Zach points out, it's not a trend that is likely to continue, at least on the torrid pace it's on currently. The Reds project to ground into 222 double plays this season, which would obliterate the league record. So, this'll likely slow. And I think it should start slowing tonight in a Reds win.