Reds place ace Hunter Greene on 15-day IL

The Reds have officially reinstated Joey Votto from the 60-day injured list, as was reported earlier Monday afternoon. Starter Hunter Greene was placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to June 18, due to right hip pain. To clear a 40-man roster spot for Votto, Cincinnati designated righty Kevin Herget for assignment.

Greene has been battling hip discomfort for a few weeks. Cincinnati skipped one of his starts earlier in the month to give him extra rest. This’ll be his first IL stint of the season, as the pain returned during Saturday’s start against the Astros.

There’s no indication the Reds are overly concerned. As C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic notes (on Twitter), the Reds’ scheduled off day on Thursday means they won’t need a fifth starter until next Tuesday. 

By that point, right-hander Graham Ashcraft would be eligible to return from his own IL stint. Cincinnati skipper David Bell recently said the club anticipates Ashcraft being ready to come off the IL when first eligible (via MLB.com injury tracker).

Still, the Reds will have to navigate a couple weeks without arguably their best starter. Cincinnati has already been without Nick Lodolo for a while, and he’s not likely to return until August. 

The Reds’ young position player core has carried them to an eight-game win streak and within half a game of the lead in the NL Central. A temporary rotation of Ashcraft, Andrew Abbott, Ben Lively, Brandon Williamson and Luke Weaver is well below-average for a club battling for a playoff spot, though.

Herget has been working in long relief this season. He’s tallied 22 innings across 13 appearances, pitching to a 5.73 ERA while striking out only 11.5% of batters faced. Herget has thrown plenty of strikes but hasn’t missed many bats and has given up a lot of hard contact.

After a three-outing debut season with the Rays last year, Herget has gotten a career-high MLB workload in Cincinnati. He’ll likely land on waivers within the next week. The 32-year-old has cleared outright waivers before in his career, so he’d have the ability to test minor league free agency if he goes unclaimed.