KANSAS CITY – The Cincinnati Reds are expecting some reinforcements to their roster within the next two weeks, especially with their bullpen.
There are several players who are progressing from injuries and could join the big-league roster immediately following the All-Star break.
• Michael Lorenzen (right shoulder strain) was formally transferred from the Arizona Complex League to Louisville on his rehab assignment Monday. He is scheduled to make one-inning relief appearances Tuesday and Thursday, and then he could join the Reds' bullpen by Saturday.
"We won't make any decisions based on anything other than what's best for Michael, but it could work out to where we could have him back this weekend," Reds manager David Bell said. "That would be great. That would mean everything goes really well for him these next two outings."
Lorenzen struck out two of the three batters he faced while pitching at the rookie-level Arizona League.
• Jeff Hoffman (right shoulder soreness) is scheduled to make his fourth rehab start at Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 10 innings during his rehab assignment, striking out 13.
The Reds haven’t decided whether Hoffman will join the rotation or the bullpen when he’s activated from the injured list. He’s out of minor-league options, so he can’t remain at Louisville at the end of his rehab assignment.
"He's staying on track, continuing to build up," Bell said. "After this start (Wednesday), he will be fully built up as a starter. I think there is some advantage to that and then we can kind of see where we are and go from there. With the All-Star break, a few different guys on the tail end of their rehab, ready to come back. We'll have some decisions to make."
• Infielder Max Schrock (left calf strain) has played five games at Louisville during his rehab assignment. He hit a leadoff homer in Sunday’s game and is hitting 4-for-12 in the five games. He’s played three games at second base, one at third and one at first base.
"He will play nine innings (Tuesday) and that's a big point to get to," Bell said. "With Max, he's a few of these injuries too, so we want to make sure he's responding and able to take on that workload of playing on a regular basis before we get him back here."
• Michael Feliz (right elbow sprain) made his first relief appearance on a rehab assignment Saturday, striking out one in a scoreless inning. He threw 15 pitches.
FUTURES GAME: Shortstop Jose (Garcia) Barrero was named as an injury replacement for the Futures Game next Sunday at Colorado’s Coors Field. The game will be televised on MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com at 3 p.m.
Barrero was promoted to Triple-A Louisville last week. He hit .300 in 40 games at Double-A Chattanooga with a .367 on-base percentage, nine doubles, eight homers, 35 RBI and 34 runs. He struck out 50 times in 181 at-bats, and he drew 19 walks.
He played in 24 games with the Reds last season, called up without any experience at Double-A or Triple-A, because of his defensive ability. The Reds put the 23-year-old in the minor leagues this year to help him develop offensively.
Barrero, who replaced San Diego Padres prospect C.J. Abrams, will join left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo as players representing the Reds at the Futures Game.
MINORS HONOR: Reds prospect Graham Ashcraft was named the Double-A South Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.
Ashcraft, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound right-hander, tossed 11 scoreless innings last week while allowing three hits. The 23-year-old has thrown 43 consecutive scoreless innings between Double-A Chattanooga and High-A Dayton.
He’s the third Chattanooga pitcher to earn player of the week honors, joining Hunter Greene and Lodolo. Ashcraft was a sixth-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of UAB.
NO REDSFEST IN 2021: The Reds announced Sunday that Redsfest won't return until 2022.
A press release said it was canceled this winter because "the foundation of Redsfest is providing close, direct contact with Reds players and due to managing the ongoing COVID-related safety protocols, the Reds are opting to return Redsfest in 2022 when the players can fully engage with the fans."
“It’s important that Redsfest retains its player-access and free-flowing, immersive feel that our fans expect, and our sponsors generously support,” said Reds president and COO Phil Castellini. "We needed to make this difficult decision now, out of respect for our fans and vendors so they could make alternative plans for early December.”
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