Despite Wade Miley’s foot injury, which put him on the 10-day injured list Friday, the Cincinnati Reds will have a lot of continuity with their pitching staff.
The Reds will keep their starting pitchers on regular rest, four days between starts, and essentially push back Miley’s spot in the rotation with Monday’s off day. Here are the Reds’ probable starters for the upcoming week:
Tuesday at Washington – Tyler Mahle.
Wednesday at Washington – Jeff Hoffman.
Thursday at Washington – Sonny Gray.
Friday at Chicago Cubs – TBA.
Saturday at Chicago – Luis Castillo.
Sunday at Chicago – Potentially Miley if he’s ready to return from the IL.
“As long as (Miley’s) going the right direction that would be the plan,” Reds manager David Bell said. “With our travel after a night game (in Washington) with a day game in Chicago, it actually works out kind of nice for a spot starter to meet us there and not be a part of that day the day before.”
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The Reds haven’t announced Friday’s spot starter. The top candidates are Tony Santillan and Vladimir Gutierrez because they’re both on the 40-man roster and a part of the rotation at Triple-A Louisville. José De León has pitched out of Louisville’s bullpen since he was demoted from the big-league roster in early May, so he seems more unlikely as an option.
Santillan, 24, has yielded one earned run and nine hits across 14 innings (0.65 ERA) in his three starts at Louisville this season. The right-hander has struck out 20 and walked four.
Gutierrez is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in his three minor-league starts. The 25-year-old right-hander has allowed nine hits and five runs in 17 innings while striking out 21 and walking seven.
VOTTO UPDATE: Joey Votto took ground balls at first base before Saturday’s game, one of the first times he’s done that since he broke his thumb when he was hit by a pitch on May 5.
He’s completed some other baseball activities, running the bases and doing some footwork drills at first base without a glove on. He even helped Tyler Stephenson with his footwork and angles to receive throws during shifts.
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The Reds haven’t decided whether he will travel with the team on their upcoming road trip after a follow-up X-ray showed that everything was healing well with his thumb.
“He’s going to continue to do baseball stuff either on the road with us or back here,” Bell said. “He’s ready to take that next step. Ground balls, more baseball activity. He’s getting there.”
BENCHED: Shogo Akiyama has been the odd man out in the Reds’ outfield mix, and he didn’t play in the first two games against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Reds are set in the corners with Nick Castellanos in right field and Jesse Winker in left. Tyler Naquin is starting in center ahead of Akiyama – they’re both left-handed hitters – and Scott Heineman started Saturday’s game with a left-handed starting pitcher on the mound.
“He’s handling it unbelievably well,” Bell said. “He’s only played every day his entire career. Right when he came back and we talked about the situation, he understood it. He doesn’t accept it. He wants to contribute as much as he can and he wants to play every day, but he also understands. He’s handling it extremely professionally and staying ready every day.”
Akiyama has started only four games since he was activated from the 10-day injured list on May 7. He has six singles in 28 at-bats with two walks and six strikeouts.
“He’s wise enough to know it’s a long season, things change, and he has to stay ready each day to contribute for the bench and even for the long haul,” Bell said. “It’s just going to come up where he ends up playing more. Just the way it goes.”
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MINOR-LEAGUE NO-HITTER: The Daytona Tortugas, the Reds’ low-A affiliate, had a combined no-hitter Saturday.
James Proctor, who signed with the Reds last summer as a non-drafted free agent out of Princeton, struck out 11 and walked one in five innings. It was the most strikeouts by a Daytona starter since Amir Garrett struck out 12 in seven innings on May 30, 2015.
After Proctor’s stellar start, Vin Tampanelli tossed two scoreless innings while striking out five and walking three. Ricky Karcher threw just one pitch before leaving with an injury before Nick Hanson and Carson Spiers pitched the final two innings. Hanson and Spiers combined for three walks.
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