The Reds announced that outfielder Jake Fraley has been activated from the 10-day injured list. In a notable corresponding move, infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been optioned to Triple-A.
Fraley last played in a big league game on June 23, when he suffered a partial tear in his right labrum. This is the latest in a series of shoulder issues that have bothered Fraley for a few years, and he received a cortisone shot in an attempt to play through the pain and hold off a potential surgery until after the season.
Time will tell if this gutsy approach will be successful, though Fraley’s numbers have declined over the last two seasons (he has hit .263/.330/.383 over 527 plate appearances since Opening Day 2024) as he has been dealing with multiple other injuries. A calf strain sent Fraley to the IL for another stint earlier this season, and he missed time with a knee sprain in 2024.
The left-handed hitting Fraley figures to supplant Will Benson in the outfield mix, and between Fraley, Benson, TJ Friedl, and Gavin Lux, Cincinnati is a little overloaded with lefty-swinging outfield options. Austin Hays is a right-handed bat that has been getting time in both left field and at DH, in a nod to Hays’ multiple IL stints this year. As the Reds remain in the NL wild card hunt, a righty bat seems like an obvious need if the club is still in position to buy when the July 31 trade deadline roll around.
Encarnacion-Strand hit .270/.328/.477 with 13 home runs over 241 plate appearances in his rookie season, as he was one of many young position players that burst onto the scene for the 2023 Reds. After tearing up minor league pitching en route to this impressive debut showing in the majors, it looked like CES was going to make himself a fixture in the Cincinnati lineup.
Unfortunately, Encarnacion-Strand has since sputtered to hit only .199/.227/.337 over 260 PA, as he missed most of the 2024 season recovering from surgery to fix a wrist fracture. Back problems returned him to the IL in April and he didn’t return to the big leagues until early June, with Reds manager Terry Francona intimating that the club was viewing CES’ rehab assignment as a way for the 25-year-old to get on track the plate.
However, the results haven’t been much better since Encarnacion-Strand was activated, so he’ll now head back to Triple-A Louisville. A 1.048 OPS over 359 career Triple-A PA indicates that Encarnacion-Strand doesn’t have much more to prove in the minors, yet the Reds can’t afford to give CES more time to find himself in the big leagues when the club is trying to fight its way deeper into the playoff picture.