Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brandon Finnegan exits start early with apparent injury

Not an hour after finding out that Cincinnati Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani is again fighting an oblique injury, Brandon Finnegan took the mound to pitch against the Seattle Mariners and Ichiro. Hey, he even struck Ichiro out!

Things quickly devolved, however, and two batters later the team’s training staff was mound-bound to talk to Finnegan, as they’d noticed that something wasn’t quite right. He immediately exited the game after walking the second batter he faced, which is precisely the kind of news that makes you want to count every single hair left on your head so you know exactly how many you can stand to rip out.

This is ridiculous.

Where the Reds turn from here obviously depends on Finnegan’s diagnosis, but after fighting his way back from serious injuries to both of his shoulders, it’s hard to count on him to be back in action in full force anytime soon. That paired with Disco fighting an injury - one similar to the one that cost him over 1/3rd of the 2016 season - means the glut of young starters in camp at the moment that at one point were fighting for just the 5th starter position now have much, much clearer paths to a spot in the Opening Day rotation.

Injuries are never a good thing, but talented depth sure is. It’s already being tested in Cincinnati camp with the season now less than three weeks away.