Luis Castillo behind the table, Justin Dunn out of “months” with a shoulder injury

The Reds can be without the best player Luis Castillo When is the opening day as a manager David Bell He told reporters Tuesday that Castillo was briefly closed due to a sore shoulder (Twitter link via Bobby Nightingale of the Cincinnati Inquirer). Castillo is healthy now and has resumed throwing the ball, per Bale, but is behind schedule in his mustering for the season. There was more disturbing news about being right Justin Dunnacquired last week Jesse Winker Trade, as Bale revealed he will miss at least two months due to ongoing shoulder issues. Nightengale as well Notes That the Reds were aware of Dunne’s injury condition upon acquisition.

The good news for Reds fans is that there is no indication that Castillo has been seriously injured. He will likely only miss the first or two turns during the turn, as long as there are no further setbacks while he is building a backup.

Plenty of times off season, Castillo has emerged as one of the most logical candidate trades on the market. General manager Nick Krall has started talking about the need to align the Reds’ payroll with their resources, and the first few moves in a cost-cutting streak going back to the latest season have continued. Reds mode Valley Miley and his eminently reasonable salary of $10 million on traded concessions and swaps Tucker Barnhart for tigers. In the days coming out of lockdown, Cincinnati has handled Sony Gray To the Reds, trading both Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez for sailors.

Since getting rid of the remainder of the Suarez deal, the Reds have begun to make some modest additions to the payroll. They collected about $7 million in payroll commitments in the trade that was sent prince garrett To Kansas City vs. Mike MinorThe Reds also awarded big, small league deals to the player Donovan Solano and loyal Hunter Strickland. Krall has since stated publicly that he does not expect to trade in Castillo or the Right Tyler Mahleywhich was a popular commercial target for teams in need.

Castillo, 29, got off to a rough start in 2021 when he netted an ugly 7.22 ERA during his first 11 appearances. His return to form was quick and sure, though, as Castillo finished the year with an impressive 22-start stretch that put him on 2.73 ERAs with a 26% strike rate and 9.4% walking rate. Over the past three seasons, the Reds have given 448 1/3 rounds of 3.61 Era balls with a strike rate of 27%, a walking rate of 9.3% and an impressive average of 56.8%. It can be controlled during the 2023 campaign, and it stands to reason that if the Reds do not compete this year, Castillo’s name will once again appear in the summer trade market. It’s a similar story with Mahle, who also controlled it until 2023.

For Dunn, the news of a months-long absence with a shoulder problem going back to June 2021, when the right-hand man last started, is certainly a source of frustration. The 26-year-old Dunn made a 50 1/3 round of 3.75 era balls with Seattle last year, but he did so with a below-average strike rate of 22.8%, an inflated walking rate of 11.3% and a low rate of 33.8%. The last time he received the ball was on June 17th.

Dunn is a well-respected former first-round pick, being drafted into the 19th overall by the Mets in 2016 and traded with the Mariners alongside Jared Kielnik In the transaction you sent Robinson Kano And the Edwin Diaz to New York. He can still be controlled throughout the 2025 season, but it now appears that by the time he is ready to join the Reds, he will have missed out on over a year with shoulder issues.

News of Dunn’s injury will throw him out of the race for fifth in the rotation, and with Castillo ill to a much lesser degree, there is some uncertainty over who will knock out the starting team. If Castillo isn’t ready to go, opening day will likely fall in Mahle. Minor and . will follow Vladimir Gutierrezwith the right hand Tony Santillan and maybe left-handed Sanmartin River They serve as early options as well. Reds personality for a look at many of the best promotions in 2022 – Hunter GreenAnd the Nick Ludlow And the Brandon Williamson Among them – but it is unclear if they would consider diving their farm for a temporary hiatus early in the season.