placed on the 10-day injured list<\/a> Monday. The Reds called up Ivan Johnson to take his place on the roster, in part because he has played the infield and outfield. At Triple A, Johnson has played all three outfield spots and second and third base.<\/p>\nBut Steer is more than a fill-in type player. It\u2019s not just that he has played six positions this season \u2014 all three outfield spots as well as first, second and third base. Last year, Steer was a Gold Glove finalist at first base, his first season with extended playing time at the position. He has mostly been in the outfield this season, but he has been able to mix in at the three infield spots.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at most of the good teams in our league, they have a guy that they shuffle around and feel pretty good about it,\u201d Francona said. \u201cIt can be a really important piece because if somebody gets hurt and they can play a position for two weeks and you don\u2019t lose much, great. And then when you are healthy, you can move them around and get the platoon advantage as often as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steer is in his fourth full season in the big leagues and has 16 home runs this season. He had at least 20 home runs in each of his first three seasons. Steer\u2019s versatility and league-average OPS make him a more valuable player to managers than his stats (.238\/.319\/.421) would suggest. It\u2019s also why Steer\u2019s name was one of the more popular ones in trade rumors surrounding the Reds. Steer is under team control through the 2028 season.<\/p>\n
The injury, though, takes him out of the trade market. Steer will be in a brace for the next two weeks and then will be reevaluated. Surgery is still a possibility, and if it is required, he would miss the rest of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bummer, but I don\u2019t think now is really a time to sulk or pout. It\u2019s over with,\u201d Steer said. \u201cThe best thing I can do is believe that my body\u2019s going to heal itself, stay positive, be a good person, be a good teammate, and I\u2019ll be back when I\u2019m back.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he was acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the 2022 trade deadline, Steer made an immediate impact with the Reds, starting with his big-league debut that September, doubling and scoring the walk-off run in his first game \u2014 a game in which he also hit his first big-league homer. Since then, he has played every position other than pitcher and catcher and started a game in each spot in the order other than ninth.<\/p>\n
Francona also noted that Steer has played through several injuries. He was expected to start last season on the IL, but when outfielder Austin Hays suffered an injury in an exhibition game the week of Opening Day, Steer volunteered to go on the active roster even though he hadn\u2019t been cleared to throw from the outfield. He served as a designated hitter and then the first baseman as his shoulder improved. Although his numbers suffered, Steer was available.<\/p>\n
Last week he got hit in the ribs by a pitch in Seattle and missed a day, and then he left Sunday\u2019s game in St. Louis early. Steer said his wrist felt funny after a swing in the third inning, and he exited in the fifth.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve me when I say he plays through a lot,\u201d Francona said. \u201cThat\u2019s why when I went out to see him the other day and he wasn\u2019t fighting me, I got nervous in a hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until Steer can take the field again, the Reds will have to continue without one of their most important players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI \u2014 In the classic board game Scrabble, there are two blank tiles, and they can be used…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2319,363,99],"class_list":["post-789095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}