Cincinnati Reds place Joey Votto on injured list, activate Shogo Akiyama

After learning earlier in the week that Joey Votto had fractured his left thumb and would be sidelined for ‘weeks,’ we knew today would bring a litany of moves both on the roster and with the lineup. The Cincinnati Reds made that official this afternoon, placing Votto on the 10-day IL and activating OF Shogo Akiyama in his stead.

Shogo had been sidelined for the entirety of the season to date with a bad hamstring strain, but had recently managed to get in some rehab time with AAA Louisville to get ready for his return. That looming logjam in the OF had prompted David Bell and the Reds to begin getting Nick Senzel some time at both 2B and 3B prior to Votto’s injury in order to keep the best bats in the lineup upon Shogo’s return, which made anticipating how the Reds would massively shuffle things for their first games sans-Joey something of an event the last few days.

As it turns out, that Senzel move to the infield was just part of it. The Reds announced their starting lineup for Friday evening’s game in Cleveland moments ago, too, and it features a major series of shakeups. Not only is Senzel at 2B, but Mike Moustakas has moved across the diamond to 1B to take over for Votto tonight, while former 3B-turned-SS Eugenio Suarez has slid back over to the hot corner for the time being, too, yielding SS to Kyle Farmer for the evening. Shogo’s in the lineup for his debut, as Jesse Winker will be slotted in the DH spot while the Reds have that option.

It certainly is a cavalcade of moves for this club, a shakeup that will hopefully spur them back into a hot streak while Joey’s thumb heals.