Cincinnati Reds not intent upon putting Brandon Phillips on disabled list – MLB News
The Cincinnati Reds' second baseman Brandon Phillips on Wednesday, August 1, was not available to play for the club as the strained left calf continued to create problem for the player. However, despite the apparently big fitness issue, the team does not intend to place him on the disabled list.
That is due largely to the long stretch of games in the days ahead. The Reds already have the conspicuous absence of All-Star slugger Joey Votto who was placed in the disabled list due to knee surgery. In his absence, Phillips has played a fundamentally big role to fill the spot.
But Phillips had his calf cramped against the game involving the Reds and Colorado Rockies on Sunday. He had to exit the game early, but was brought back in the game against Padres on Tuesday where he hit a leadoff homer to help team win the game.
Although the team pulled him out of the Tuesday game in the eighth inning, he was expected to show up in Wednesday’s encounter involving the Reds and Padres.
Nonetheless, despite the problem Brandon Phillips is faced with, the team does not intend to place him on the disabled list.
"We have a big series coming up, not to overlook [the Padres], of course," Baker said. "We have a day game [Thursday], so he'll probably sit today and tomorrow and be available to pinch-hit maybe, depending on the closeness or severity of the game."
The team is obviously quite concerned about Phillips’ fitness because the days ahead will have too many games and against equally strong teams. That will require the Reds to have Phillips available. Thus, the Reds hope Phillips’ fitness problem is not long term.
"It's a tremendous challenge," Baker said. "That's why we've got to make sure Brandon's is very short term, hopefully. Don't do anything to make it long term. Brandon heals pretty quickly and it's up to us to help him take care of his health."
Coming weekend shall see the Reds playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. Whether Phillips will be available or not shall be clear within a couple of days.
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