Cincinnati Reds' manager Dusty Baker hopes the winning flow shall continue – MLB News
The Cincinnati Reds' manager Dusty Baker has warned the team of a let down in the wake of certain developments. The Reds on Monday, much to their chagrin, discovered that Joey Votto – the team’s All-Star first baseman, needed surgery that will take at least a month to recover from.
The warning came soon after the big sweep by the Reds in the three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The team wants to maintain their lead in the National League Central as they sit atop for now.
"This is a big day today when you come off of a tough series," Baker said Monday. "We spent a lot of emotional and physical energy playing those Cardinals. You're curious to see how they'll be today too. That was a playoff game [atmosphere]. I don't anticipate as many fans so we'll have to come up with our own motivation."
There is no room for complacency right now since it can get shattered at any moment given the unforeseen injury of Joey Votto and the starter Johnny Cueto’s absence. Johnny Cueto could not appear in the last game due to a blister on his index finger.
Cueto, on the other hand, is gone for a month now after a knee injury that required surgery due to torn minuscule. In light of these developments, the Reds need to be extraordinarily cautious in games ahead.
The fact that the Reds have a total of five starters for this season can become, from best utility to a liability if they find out that Cueto cannot play the Tuesday game against the Diamondbacks, or go for disabled list.
However, the team manager is optimistic and says Cueto is getting better and may well be in the team on Tuesday. "He's getting better every day and should be all right by tomorrow,” said Dusty Baker.
Everything will be clear by Tuesday as the Reds prepare to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second game. For now, the Reds are 1-0 in the three-game series. Having just swept the series against the Cardinals, they will definitely not want to lose it.
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