Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jesse Winker said he had watched every Reds game since he went on the injured list in the middle of August. On Thursday afternoon, he sat down to watch one from Memphis, Tennessee.
Later that day, Winker was supposed to play in his final Triple-A rehab game with the Louisville Bats against the Memphis Redbirds. But when Winker watched the Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, he canceled those plans.
He decided he was going straight to Cincinnati. Reds Minor League hitting coordinator C.J. Gillman drove Winker home, and on Friday he was back in the Reds lineup.
“I don’t think, realistically, feeling 100% was on the table,” Winker said. “I just wanted to get it good enough to just be able to come back and help. That’s all I wanted to do.”
One month after going on the injured list with an intercostal strain, Winker wrapped up the shortest rehab assignment of the Reds season. He took only five at-bats with the Louisville Bats, but he had bigger goals that he could only achieve in Major League games.
Along the six-and-a-half hour drive from Memphis to Cincinnati, Winker chatted with Gillman for most of it. They stopped at a Chick-fil-A for a peach milkshake. Winker called manager David Bell to update him on his progress.
