CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds activated veteran catcher Jose Trevino on Sunday. Elly De La Cruz’s return could come as soon as Monday, followed by veteran reliever Pierce Johnson and closer Emilio Pagán.
In addition to those stalwarts, Hunter Greene is on track to begin his rehab assignment Thursday in Arizona. The gang’s getting back together, but with another loss on Sunday, the Reds fell to 33-37. The Reds are now 10 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central and four back in the wild-card race.
The Reds are 3-9 this month, with all three wins coming by two or fewer runs (two of them were in extra innings) and four of the losses coming by two runs or fewer.
“I feel like our pitching’s been pretty good this past week and they’ve been keeping us in it,” said Reds outfielder JJ Bleday, whose 12th home run of the season gave the team a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Sunday. “At the end of the day, we just got to try to find a way to score more points than the other team.”
De La Cruz went on the injured list on the first of the month, and for a team searching for offense, getting its best hitter back is a positive thing.
“I mean, Elly’s a winning baseball player through and through, and again, he’s the face of this team. Everyone knows it; he’s a tremendous athlete defensively and offensively,” Bleday said. “Being able to take stolen bases just to get in scoring position. And then you know, work down on the pitchers. It wears on their psyche, too, in the opposition when Elly’s in the lineup. And you have to find a way to pitch to him or pitch around him. And it definitely benefits us as a whole.”
The Reds called up shortstop Edwin Arroyo when De La Cruz was put on the IL. Arroyo has hit .214 since his call-up, going 3-for-14 in both his first and second weeks, with 10 strikeouts and two walks.
Matt McLain has taken the lion’s share of starts at shortstop with De La Cruz on the injured list, hitting .278/.381/.611 with three home runs and looking more like the player at the plate who was pencilled in as the team’s No. 2 hitter to begin the season.
Reds hitters in June
Player
G
AB
PA
AVG
OBP
SLG
OPS
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
10
44
46
0.250
0.283
0.341
0.624
1
0
1
3
2
9
11
36
42
0.278
0.381
0.611
0.992
3
0
3
5
6
10
12
49
55
0.184
0.273
0.408
0.681
2
0
3
4
5
11
8
26
28
0.308
0.357
0.692
1.049
1
0
3
3
2
5
12
45
52
0.178
0.288
0.289
0.577
2
0
1
5
7
13
11
42
44
0.190
0.227
0.310
0.537
2
0
1
4
2
14
9
30
33
0.233
0.303
0.367
0.670
1
0
1
2
3
10
9
28
32
0.214
0.281
0.214
0.495
0
0
0
2
2
10
12
27
34
0.222
0.382
0.222
0.604
0
0
0
0
7
7
7
18
21
0.333
0.429
0.389
0.818
1
0
0
0
3
4
11
36
44
0.139
0.273
0.417
0.690
1
0
3
5
7
10
7
13
14
0.231
0.286
0.462
0.748
0
0
1
1
1
7
1
3
3
0.333
0.333
0.333
0.666
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
5
6
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0
0
0
0
0
0
Reds starters have the third-best ERA in baseball in June at 3.86, a mark that goes down to 3.30 if you take out Lyon Richardson’s stint as an opener. Yet, the Reds are the only team in baseball not to have a win from a starter this month.
Reds starters in June
Player
GS
QS
W
L
ERA
WHIP
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
BB/9
SO
K/9
AVG
OBP
SLG
OPS
3
2
0
1
3.71
1.29
17
13
7
7
2
9
4.76
16
8.47
0.206
0.306
0.333
0.639
2
1
0
0
3.18
1.15
11.1
10
4
4
1
3
2.38
16
12.71
0.222
0.271
0.378
0.649
2
1
0
1
2.70
1.40
10
10
6
3
1
4
3.6
11
9.9
0.250
0.318
0.400
0.718
2
0
0
0
1.04
1.50
8.2
6
1
1
1
7
7.27
10
10.38
0.188
0.366
0.313
0.679
2
0
0
0
5.23
1.65
10.1
15
6
6
1
2
1.74
8
6.97
0.333
0.392
0.444
0.836
• Does not include Lyon Richardson’s start as an opener
Greene, who was expected to start Opening Day but underwent surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow, is set to make his first rehab start Thursday in Arizona and could make a start for the Reds as soon as July 3.
“I think we’re also finding our stride,” said Andrew Abbott, who allowed one run over five innings on Sunday. “Guys are returning, guys are way more healthy than what we were at the beginning. So I think it comes in waves, and I think that’s another one that we’ve ridden the wave of not getting into long starts. And now we’re kind of coming out of it with guys going six almost every time.”
Pagán, who has been on the IL since May 6 with a left hamstring strain, threw a bullpen session Saturday and is expected to throw another on Monday. He could face live hitters as soon as Friday in New York. Right-hander Johnson, who went on the IL on May 30, is expected to throw to hitters on Monday. If all goes as planned, he could return to the active roster sooner than Pagán because he’s been out a shorter period of time, Reds manager Francona said.
Reds relievers in June
Player
G
IP
W
L
ERA
HLD
SV
SVO
H
R
ER
HR
BB
BB/9
SO
K/9
AVG
OBP
OPS
SLG
IR
IRS
7
8
1
0
1.13
1
0
2
5
3
1
1
2
2.25
7
7.88
0.172
0.226
0.502
0.276
4
1
6
5.1
0
1
8.44
1
1
1
6
5
5
1
5
8.44
6
10.13
0.273
0.407
0.862
0.455
0
0
6
5.2
0
0
3.18
1
0
0
6
2
2
0
3
4.76
5
7.94
0.261
0.346
0.737
0.391
1
0
5
3.2
0
2
4.91
0
0
1
5
4
2
1
2
4.91
5
12.27
0.313
0.421
0.921
0.500
3
0
3
4
0
0
6.75
0
0
0
6
3
3
0
2
4.5
4
9
0.333
0.429
0.818
0.389
4
0
5
5.2
1
1
0.00
0
0
0
3
3
0
0
6
9.53
3
4.76
0.158
0.360
0.571
0.211
3
1
1
6
0
0
7.50
0
0
0
10
5
5
2
3
4.5
3
4.5
0.385
0.433
1.125
0.692
0
0
6
4.1
0
1
6.23
0
1
2
6
3
3
1
1
2.08
3
6.23
0.316
0.350
0.824
0.474
6
2
2
3
0
0
12.00
0
0
1
4
4
4
1
1
3
2
6
0.333
0.385
1.135
0.750
0
0
2
2.1
1
1
3.86
0
0
0
2
1
1
1
0
0
1
3.86
0.200
0.273
0.873
0.600
2
0
1
0.1
0
0
54.00
0
0
0
1
2
2
0
3
81
0
0
0.500
0.833
1.333
0.500
2
2
Marte homers in 3 straight
Noelvi Marte homered for the third straight game on Sunday and is 8-for-26 since he was recalled from Louisville on June 3.
“When he swings at pitches … over the plate, he can do some pretty special things,” Francona said. “Now you’re right, it is a small sample, but I’d much rather see that talk about that than be like, ‘he’s not doing anything.’”
In 28 plate appearances since his return, Marte has five strikeouts and two walks. In 31 plate appearances before being sent down on April 13, Marte struck out 10 times and walked twice.
Following Saturday’s game, Marte said through interpreter Tomás Vera that he didn’t think he was getting pitched differently since being called up, he’s just “taking advantage of their mistakes.”
Not swinging at balls out of the zone, though, is a big reason Marte is seeing mistakes.
“Because if you do, you’re not going to get a mistake,” Francona said.
Rodríguez raking on the farm
Outfielder Héctor Rodríguez hit for the cycle on Wednesday for Triple-A Louisville against the Iowa Cubs. It was the ninth cycle in Louisville history and the first since McLain did it shortly before being called up in 2023. He was the first Bat to hit for the cycle at Louisville Slugger Field since Scott Schebler in 2016.
Rodríguez, 22, is hitting .287/.360/.526 and hit his 15th home run of the season Sunday in a game that was declared a tie in the 10th due to rain.
Before the season, The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Rodríguez the team’s fifth-best prospect. Rodríguez was acquired from the New York Mets at the trade deadline in 2023 in exchange for outfielder Tyler Naquin.
Rodríguez hit three home runs in a game for the Bats on May 27 and became the first Bats player to ever record a cycle and a three-homer game in the same season. Frank Robinson hit for the cycle and had a three-homer game for the Reds in 1959, the only Red to have both in one season in the modern era (since 1900).