The Cincinnati Reds (and every other team in baseball) have multiple pitchers on the injured list who are working their way back. For Cincinnati, that includes Hunter Greene, Carson Spiers, and Graham Ashcraft.
On Thursday night, Carson Spiers made his first rehab appearance as he worked his way back from a right-shoulder impingement. Spiers has been on the IL since April 20th and was eventually moved to the 60-day IL. Today marks his 76th day he’s spent out of commission.
Thursday saw Spiers on the mound in Goodyear, pitching on the backfields at the minor league complex in Arizona for the Arizona Complex League Reds. He got the start in the game and threw 2.1 innings while giving up no runs. Spiers did give up two hits – both singles and one was an infield hit – and he hit a batter, but walked no one and he struck out four of the 10 batters that he faced on the night.
While the Reds were in Boston, both Hunter Greene and Graham Ashcraft joined the team on the road and threw live batting practice sessions as they worked their way back from their injuries.
Hunter Greene, who is on the injured list with a groin strain for the second time this year, hasn’t pitched in a game for a month. He threw 20 pitches this week as he faced off against five batters. Greene had been in Arizona at the spring training complex working with the staff out there during his rehab process before joining the Reds for the Red Sox series to get some work on a big league mound. Molly Burkhardt of MLB.com reports that Greene will pitch another live batting practice session in Philadelphia as long as there are no complications after his time in Boston.
After throwing 20 pitches this past week, he’s probably still a bit away as he’ll need to build back up to a starters pitch count. With the All-Star break coming up after next week, the Reds and Greene get additional time for him to get work in without missing a game during that stretch.
As for Ashcraft, he’s missed the last three weeks after suffering a groin strain. The right-handed reliever, like Greene, threw 20 pitches during his session. Unlike Greene, he won’t need to build up nearly as much since he’s not going to be expected to throw 80+ pitches each time he takes the mound. He had previously thrown bullpen sessions before taking the mound in Boston and could be ready sooner than Greene as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks.
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