No TJ Friedl? No Matt McLain? No time for Cincinnati Reds to cry with opener one week away

GOODYEAR, Arizona — Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jake Fraley took a routine swing the other night in a routine spring training game and fouled the ball off his, um, well, a part of his body that is very sensitive, making it very much not routine when hit with a batted ball.

“It was painful to even be in the vicinity of Jake at that point,” manager David Bell said.

Fraley left the game. Gingerly.

All of which just about summed up the kind of week it has been for the Reds.

“I don’t want to sum it up that way,” Bell said.

Actually, it might be the most generous way to sum up where the Reds’ stand (or don’t in many cases) with a week left before the season starts.

The good news for Fraley and the Reds is he appears to have recovered and should be full-go for Opening Day.

The not-so-great news involves injuries late in camp to center fielder TJ Friedl and second baseman Matt McLain that threaten to kneecap the top of the lineup for a team already without rookie Noelvi Marte because of his 80-game PED suspension — and compromise the team's defense at least early in the season.

Not exactly what the Reds envisioned when they finished off that surprising pennant chase with baseball’s highest number of rookies, then embarked on a $108-million offseason of free agent acquisitions that left many wondering whether they had too many infielders.

Since then, the only breaks they’ve been able to get seem to involve bones.

Bell on injuries: 'It’s just a fact. It’s unfortunate.'

“No matter who you are, what team you are, things like this always happen,” Bell said. “So the depth — it’s not just something you say. You need it. It’s just a fact. It’s unfortunate. But nothing ever goes perfect.”

Friedl’s broken right wrist and McLain’s damaged left shoulder will put both on the injured list to start the season — prompting team president Nick Krall to pull off a trade Wednesday night for Blue Jays infielder Santiago Espinal for a pitching prospect.

Krall won’t hesitate to do the same thing if he can find an outfield fit to help backfill for Friedl.

“If it’s there, we’ll see what we can do,” he said.

In all, the Reds are staring at six key projected members of their opening roster starting the season on the IL, including four pitchers: starters Nick Lodolo (leg) and Brandon Williamson (shoulder) and relievers Ian Gibaut (forearm) and Alex Young (back).

It could be worse. Maybe a lot worse.

Offseason moves provided much-needed depth

Because of all the additions to the pitching staff over the winter, the Reds actually wind up with more experience and a more solid floor in their opening rotation, despite the injuries, with veteran free agents Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez filling the Opening Day spot in the rotation and one of the back-end spots, respectively.

And free agent additions in left-hander Brent Suter and righty Emilio Pagán help offset the bullpen injuries.

The Reds also remain optimistic that Lodolo — who has looked good as he has begun to ramp back up again in games — will be ready to join the rotation close to his eligible return date of April 10.

But that doesn’t change the fact they’ll be without arguably their best starting pitcher until then.

Or that their best player for much of last season, McLain, is facing an uncertain timeline as he seeks a second opinion on the shoulder — one option being surgery, the team said.

Or the fact that they’ll be without their leadoff ignitor, Friedl, until probably at least some point in May.

Overall team defense has taken a hit

Or that McLain and Friedl also are probably the best fielders on a team that was collectively bad at fielding the first six weeks of last season until McLain debuted as shortstop, with Elly De La Cruz and Marte debuting behind him.

So much for getting off to that strong start to the season they’ve been talking about?

That’s definitely a concern.

Without Friedl in center, they’ve got Stuart Fairchild and Will Benson getting the game reps there this week to prepare to fill the void, with good-fielding center fielder Bubba Thompson rejoining camp from the minor-league side to get another look.

Jonathan India, the everyday second baseman for much of his career until the second half of last year, is expected to return to the infield to help fill McLain’s role, with Espinal also getting time there.

The Reds’ shortstop depth is down to Espinal and, if the need is great enough, Spencer Steer, who otherwise will be spending most of his time playing in the outfield.

But with a week to go until Thursday’s opener against the Washington Nationals, the Reds are keeping their fingers crossed that the healthy pitchers in camp stay healthy, which would give them not only a one of the most competitive groups, on paper, in the National League Central, but maybe even some tough decisions in the bullpen over these next few days (non-roster Tony Santillan has looked great, but who gets bumped for him?).

And remember that switch-hitting corner infielder they signed for $45 million when nobody thought there was a place for Jeimer Candelario with all that young, elite talent brimming in the infield?

Say hello to your everyday third baseman until further notice.

The Reds also are keeping their eyes peeled for players that get cut from other camps that might be a fit for specific needs.

Barring another addition, however, the able-bodied players left in camp for the final two roster spots are lefty hitting outfielder Nick Martini and lefty-hitting first baseman/DH Mike Ford (plus Thompson).

Oh, and the other — maybe biggest — reason the Reds are still standing as tall as they can muster after their week of shots to the, ahem, lower region?

Baseball plays a lot of games for a lot of months. They haven’t forgotten that after going 7-15 to start last season, they went 75-65 the rest of the way despite no expectations of doing much of anything in 2023.

“There’s obviously guys hurt to start the season, and that’s not good,” McLain said. “But hopefully we can get on the field as soon as possible. Then once everyone gets on the field, stay on the field. That’s important.”

Said Bell: “I’d rather us as a team go through it at the beginning of the year and then just get stronger as we go.”

Reminded that only one week remained before the opener, Bell said, “That’s great.”

Wait, what?

“We’re ready to go.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Where Cincinnati Reds stand with just one week left before Opening day