Lucas Sims was activated from the 10-day injured list before Sunday’s game. Reliever Brad Brach was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement to make room for Sims on the active roster.
Sims made five relief appearances on his rehab assignment at Triple-A Louisville. He allowed six hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out four.
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“The first couple of rehab outings are about feeling good, you're working on some stuff,” Reds manager David Bell said. “But ultimately, you just want to feel good. Then, the last couple, it's time to flip the switch and are you going to be able to go out there and perform, right? That's the ultimate thing. That's really what I had to pass.”
The Reds, and their bullpen, are in a bit of a different spot since Sims made his last appearance on June 22.
“It's been really fun to follow, but at the same time, it's kind of painful to not really be in the trenches with them,” Sims said. “There's only so much you can do. I was telling Sonny (Gray), on the bench, we were just talking about if last year with the season being cut away and taken away, if you forgot about how much you missed it. The IL definitely reminded me how much I love it, how much I missed it.
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“When it's taken away from you, it stinks. Just to be back and just be with the guys again and try to help win ballgames, I just want to step in and keep a good thing rolling.”
Brach has allowed seven hits and eight runs in his last five outings, which have spanned 3 2/3 innings (19.64 ERA).
“Brad for a long period of time was throwing the ball extremely well,” Bell said. “Asked him to do a lot. Put him in a lot of situations. He was up a lot. Even on days he didn't pitch, we'd have him ready to come in and get out of really important situations. Tough role. I think he was pitching at one point as well as maybe as he ever has. He's had a really good career.
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“I think on the back side of that. I've seen some fatigue. His velocity is down a bit, the results haven't been as good over the last two-to-three weeks. The confidence in him hasn't gone away, but the results have been different. In my mind, there's no doubt how much I've put on him. He may not admit it. I think it has affected him over the last couple of weeks.”
STAYING HOT: When Bell watched Jesse Winker at the beginning of the season, he saw a hitter who was performing at an elite level and a hitter who has developed ways to shorten slumps.
It was the next step in Winker’s development. He had an electric August in 2020 with a 1.257 OPS (on-base plus slugging), but he followed it with a .552 OPS in September.
Winker refused to let the same thing happen this year.
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After he had a cold spell for a few weeks in front of the All-Star break, Winker has transformed back into one of the top performing hitters in the league. He entered Sunday’s series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a .375 batting average and .464 on-base percentage in his last 18 games. He’s hit 13 doubles and four homers in that 18-game stretch.
“It’s been incredible watching just the development, the progress,” Bell said. “Even though we know he can hit, we believe he can hit – he’s shown that – it feels like he’s making adjustments even quicker. He continues to get better. That’s the whole idea. He’s accomplished a lot already this year, but if he can continue to find ways to get better, that’s going to carry him through and help him finish strong.”
Winker matched his career-high with six RBI in Saturday’s 11-3 win. He had an RBI double in the third inning, a two-run single in the sixth and he capped it with a three-run homer in the eighth.
“Baseball is baseball,” Winker said. “I just try to hit the ball hard, play left field to the best of my ability and run the bases hard. I just try to do my job and string together good ABs and hit the ball hard. That’s all I try to do. Just be ready for a play if there’s a play that is presenting itself to me.”
SHO-TIME: Shogo Akiyama earned back-to-back starts in center field for the final two games of the Reds’ weekend series against the Pirates.
After a lineout as a pinch-hitter Friday, hitting coach Alan Zinter turned to Bell and told him Akiyama has squared up seven balls in a row. He reached base three times in Saturday’s start with two singles and a walk.
“The point is,” Bell said, “he's hitting the ball hard, maybe not a ton of results for what he's done recently, so it'll be nice to get him back in there.”
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