Cincinnati Reds cautious after Zack Cozart’s MRI result – MLB News
With the playoffs around the corner, the Cincinnati Reds have decided not to take any risk as far as the shortstop Zack Cozart is concerned after the player was out of the line-up due to a strained left oblique muscle.
Team manager Dusty Baker on Sunday, September 9, said the club is being careful. This has a lot to do with the fact that it was Drew Stubbs who previously had a similar problem. The issue which popped up in June lasted for 20 days.
At a time when the playoffs are ever near, the Reds hope Cozart is not faced with something worrying that could take the player out of the line-up for long. Cozart has been instrumental for the Reds throughout the season.
"You have to be careful with that. It's in that minor pulled state right now," Reds' manager Dusty Baker said on Sunday. "But if we don't take care of that oblique, he could be out a month or six weeks, and then what? We won't have him at all for the playoffs, probably."
Dusty Baker has a strong reason to be careful about it, saying that it has to be dealt very, very carefully. The oblique injury was diagnosed after an MRI on Friday. The club had initially thought the problem was different. It was thought to be a middle back injury which MRI proved otherwise, prompting the team to take precautionary measures.
On the other hand, Reds' catcher Devin Mesoraco is yet to find his way back into the team. The reason being Dioner Navarro’s good performance in the recent weeks, batting at .290.
Mesoraco is aware of what has gone wrong. He is frank enough to acknowledge that his performance has not been good.
He said, "I hadn't been playing great. I especially could see that. I went down, tried to work on some things and get better. I'm trying to get my swing back to where I want it to be. I don't feel like it's been good all year."
Nonetheless, with right replacement available as far as the catcher is concerned, the Reds are now focused on the early and safe return of Cozart.
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