How Cincinnati Reds try to 'thrive' as COVID-19 outbreak sends three key pitchers to IL
The long odds out of Las Vegas, a small-market micro-payroll, a lack of starting pitching depth, a youth movement taken to extremes, the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Texas Rangers — none of those could keep the Cincinnati Reds from starting September in a playoff race.
But a COVID-19 outbreak, possibly exacerbated by eight hours stuck on a plane in Phoenix, suddenly looks like the unforeseen challenge that has a chance to take down baseball’s unforeseen contender.
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After starting pitcher Hunter Greene went on the 7-day COVID injured list Friday morning, the Reds announced two more pitchers — starter Ben Lively and leverage reliever Fernando Cruz — would join him there as they made a flurry of moves between games of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs.
“In this game you’re prepared for anything, to make adjustments,” Reds manager David Bell said as he dealt with the roster upheaval following a 6-2 loss in Friday’s opener.
“Every team, every single team, every World Series team — everyone goes through challenges,” he said. “I’m proud of how our team and our players have handled all those challenges to this point.
“Beyond that you can’t control anything.”
Whether MLB's first known team COVID-19 outbreak of the season eventually proves too much too late in the season to overcome, the Reds might have showed in Friday's nightcap they at least will not go down without a fight — coming back in the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory on Nick Martini's tying home run and rookie Noelvi Marte's two-out run-scoring single to center.
“Anytime you lose guys to something like that, that’s been going around for a while, it’s tough,” said Martini of a COVID outbreak that also has impacted staff and other employees. “But I think a lot of guys just put it to the side and kind of bonded together (Friday night)."
In addition to the COVID IL moves, the Reds made the following moves Friday:
Right-hander Tejay Antone (second Tommy John surgery) was reinstated from the 60-day IL and joined the bullpen.
Rookie right-hander Lyon Richardsaon was recalled from Triple-A Louisville to make the Game 2 start (pitching two outs deep into the fifth after a rough first inning).
Right-hander Carson Spiers (8-3, 3.69 at Double-A Chattanooga in 28 games, including nine starts) was added to the big-league roster as a non-40-man-roster substitute allowed under the COVID-IL rules.
Outfielder TJ Hopkins was optioned to Louisville.
Right-hander Alan Busenitz was designated for assignment.
As if the pitching roster chaos with so few games left in the season wasn’t daunting enough, Game 1 starter, Graham Ashcraft — the Reds’ best pitcher the last two months — was sent for an MRI on his injured right big toe after pitching 5-plus innings in the opener. Results were not immediately available, but the toe had been bothering him even before Friday's start.
With Green and Lively out, rehabbing Nick Lodolo (leg) ruled out for the season earlier in the week following a setback, and Ashcraft in doubt, that leaves nothing but rookies among the Reds’ available starting pitchers, barring openers and/or bullpen days.
Two of those rookies, Andrew Abbott and Brandon Williamson — already have exceeded career highs in season workloads, with Abbott 24 innings past his previous high and showing signs of possible fatigue in recent starts.
The Reds also aren’t sure how much the COVID outbreak has spread or might yet spread, with team officials treating it as an active, ongoing issue. Some cases appear to have originated before last week, but a mechanical issue with the team charter from Phoenix to San Francisco last Sunday night caused the traveling part to be confined on a plane on the tarmac for more than eight hours before eventually being moved to a bus and then a second plane for the flight to San Francisco.
The entire ordeal took close to 12 hours, mostly in close quarters, by the time the team arrived at its San Francisco hotel at about 5 a.m. local time Monday.
Despite recent news reports of a surge in new-variant COVID infections around the country — including San Francisco — no other MLB teams have reported significant team outbreaks.
“I’m forward thinking at this point,” Bell said. “We have the players we need to go win a game. We just take it one day at a time and one hour at a time and just figure it out.
“It’s possible to thrive in these situations. That’s our goal.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds pitchers Hunter Greene, Ben Lively, Fernando Cruz on COVID-19 IL
