The Reds activated outfielder Austin Hays from the 10-day injured list yesterday, and placed Jake Fraley on the 10-day IL (retroactive to June 24) in the corresponding move. Fraley may be facing an extended or even season-ending absence, as the outfielder told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon and other reporters that he has a partial right labrum tear, even though the Reds officially listed a right shoulder sprain as the reason for his IL placement.
Surgery might be required to fix Fraley’s shoulder, though he is in the process of seeking out what Sheldon describes as a third opinion for what has apparently been a longstanding shoulder problem. Fraley spent a couple of weeks on the IL due to right shoulder soreness late in the 2021 season when he was still with the Mariners, and he has been dealing with “some achiness” ever since, and that lingering soreness went up a level during a play last season.
“I had a play going into the wall that I jammed up the shoulder,” Fraley said. “I never went on the IL. I played through it, still had a good season and it was fine but it was excruciating.”
Fraley hasn’t played since Monday, when he made a diving attempt to try and catch what ended up being a Cody Bellinger double. He felt the tear might have occurred during that particular play, even though he felt good enough to stay on the field and finish the last two innings of the Reds’ 6-1 win over the Yankees.
“We’re just trying to figure out if it’s something that’s just an old injury that kind of showed its face again,” Fraley said. “This is something new with the tear in the front. We’re just trying to figure out the best option for, obviously, me and this season on this team and then as well trying to gauge what is the best thing for me in my career. Just because it is something that has been chronic and now you’re throwing a tear on top of it.”
This is the second IL stint of the year for Fraley, who missed a little over three weeks dealing with a calf injury in May. The outfielder is hitting .224/.331/.376 with five home runs over 145 plate appearances, translating to a 96 wRC+ that is virtually identical to the 95 wRC+ that Fraley posted over 382 PA in 2024. His walk and hard-contact numbers are way up from last year’s stats, yet Fraley only has a .250 BABIP this season, as opposed to the .331 BABIP he enjoyed last season.
Injuries have long been a subplot of Fraley’s career, and it could be that these varied health issues (headlined by this recurring shoulder problem) have limited his production over the last two years. The Reds have primarily used the left-handed hitting Fraley in a platoon role in their outfield since acquiring the outfielder from Seattle in March 2022, and Fraley’s solid numbers against right-handed pitching have declined since the start of the 2024 campaign.
If a season-ending shoulder surgery is in the cards for Fraley, Cincinnati would still have TJ Friedl, Will Benson, and Gavin Lux as left-handed hitting options for the outfield, with Lux perhaps getting even more time in left field as opposed to playing second or third base. While the Reds aren’t hurting for depth in terms of pure players available, the club hasn’t gotten much offense from its outfield as a whole this season. Getting Hays back can help, but since Hays has been on and off the IL himself all year and might see a lot of DH time.
In short, the outfield was already looking like a need for the Reds at the trade deadline, as Cincinnati is looking to boost what has been an overall middling offense. While the team sits in fourth place in the competitive NL Central, the 43-39 Reds are only five games back of the division-leading Cubs and two games out of the final NL wild card berth, so Cincinnati projects to be a buyer to some extent before the July 31 deadline.