Cincinnati Reds play Tuesday’s game without Scott Rolen – MLB News
The Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, August 14, did not play third baseman Scott Rolen even though he was seen taking batting practice before the game. The Reds who were scheduled to play the New York Mets were expected to bring Rolen back but nothing materialised.
While Rolen’s presence will be of an invaluable support to the club’s offence, the Reds do not want to go for any risk at this point in time. There are reasons for that.
The club’s All-Star first baseman Joey Votto is not 100 percent healthy yet and had to undergo arthroscopic surgical procedure on his left knee on Friday just when he was supposed to complete his rehab by this week.
Given his extended absence, the Reds deemed it not to risk another player – Scott Rolen, who has not been put into the disabled list so far due to a problem in his back.
"He mentioned that he possibly could play today, but we've still got to make sure," Cincinnati Reds' manager Dusty Baker said. "We don't want him to keep coming on and off. We want to keep him on as much as we can, as long as we can."
Another pertinent aspect of it all is the fact that the team is operating short with the players right now, with the availability of a total of 22 to 23 players. Given the long stretch of games ahead, the Reds would require in-form, and more importantly, 100 percent healthy players.
As to what are the prospects of Rolen’s return or being put into disabled list, Dusty Baker said the club would consider it.
"It depends on how much longer it goes," Baker said. "If he's better, then he won't [go on the disabled list]. If we thought it was a DL thing, we wouldn't have waited this long. We've been operating short. We've been operating with 22-23 guys the last three or four days."
The Reds are currently playing the New York Mets and hope to come out as the winner of the series. If they succeed in that, they will retain their first position in the National League Central ranking.
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