Cincinnati Reds injury updates: Mike Moustakas has setback on rehab assignment

MILWAUKEE – Mike Moustakas hoped to rejoin the Cincinnati Reds in San Diego this weekend, but that seems more unlikely after he suffered a setback in his first game on a rehab assignment Tuesday.

Moustakas played five innings at third base and had one hit in three at-bats at Triple-A Louisville, but he felt soreness in his right foot afterward. He’s halted his rehab assignment and returned to Cincinnati for further examination Wednesday.

“I don’t really have any more information on that,” Reds manager David Bell said, “but I think it becomes a longshot for him to join us in San Diego now.”

Moustakas has been on the 10-day injured list since May 20 with a heel injury, which he said involved “a little partial tear, I guess, in the plantar fasciitis or something like that.” He sustained the injury during a road series in Colorado last month when he stepped on first base awkwardly.

He originally tried to play through the injury before it became too painful to walk. He just started running again last week.

Here are latest updates on other injured Reds players:

• RHP Tejay Antone: Antone is eligible to return from the 10-day IL on Friday, but he might be delayed by a couple of days. He’s been dealing with right forearm inflammation, but he traveled with the team to Milwaukee and has been throwing before games.

“I’m still hopeful that he comes back while we’re in San Diego,” Bell said. “The way his days lined up for bullpens and everything, I don’t think it’s going to be Friday. Depending on how many bullpens he needs, it could be like Saturday or even Monday. At this point, we want to get him back, but we want to make sure we make the most of this time off. If we have to throw in an extra bullpen, then we’ll do it.”

• RHP Sonny Gray: Sidelined with a right groin strain, Gray has missed one turn in the rotation and he’s expected to miss at least two more.

“The best feel I have for when he'd come back is almost be like maybe two starts from (Tuesday),” Bell said. “So, it might be 10 days away, right in that range. We'll know more this weekend. He's going to throw a side and we'll see where we are. It could be quicker than that, but that's my best guess.”

• RHP Jeff Hoffman: It’s unclear whether Hoffman would return to the rotation when he’s healthy or move to the bullpen because of Vladimir Gutierrez’s success. He traveled with Triple-A Louisville on the team’s trip to Omaha this week to throw bullpen sessions and he will begin a rehab assignment next week.

Hoffman has been on the IL since May 27 because of right shoulder soreness.  

• RHP Michael Lorenzen: He will return as a reliever and he’s targeting the first week of July after a shoulder strain has cost him much of the first half of the season.

Lorenzen will likely make one or two rehab appearances before he joins the Reds.

“I was texting with him (Tuesday) and he was thrilled about the bullpen session he threw (Tuesday),” Bell said. “I just got an update and he has another (bullpen session) coming. Everything is progressing really fast. I don't know what that means for a date of return, but it's getting really close.”

STICKY STUFF: Major League Baseball will begin its crackdown on pitchers using foreign substances Monday, but the Reds are confident that they will be able to adapt to the change. 

"For so long it's a been a 'don't ask, don't tell' type of thing and I think everyone understands how prevalent it is," Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson said. "Really, I haven't tried to breathe a whole lot of life into it at all simply because I never have one way or another.

"In terms of what the outcome is going to be, I just can't say. I just don't really know. I think you're going to see some bad breaking balls to start with. You're going to see some balls get away, but I don't know the overall effect."

Johnson would like to see the league address the feel of the ball. Beginning Monday, pitchers won't be allowed to use any substance besides rosin. If pitchers use a foreign substance, they are subject to ejection and an automatic 10-game suspension. 

"The antiquated practice of rubbing mud on a ball, for me, I know it's time-tested and part of tradition and that's great," Johnson said. "That doesn't mean we should keep doing it. We're in 2021 and we're still using the same thing they used back in 1955. I don't know why we can't graduate to something a little bit better."

LINEUP EXCHANGE: Wade Miley presented the Reds' lineup during the pregame lineup exchange before Tuesday's game. 

Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy waved for Miley to meet him on the field, and Reds bench coach Freddie Benavides handed the lineup card to Miley. It was the first time Miley had participated in a lineup exchange in his career and he said it was nerve-wracking. 

Miley pitched for the Brewers in 2018 when they made the playoffs and fell one game shy of the World Series and he remains popular with a lot of Milwaukee players and staff.