Reds Tweak Their Bench For Cardinals Series - Jay Bruce Is Back

Jay Bruce is in the starting lineup after having surgery on his left knee on May 6.  Bruce missed 14 games.  He returns with a .216 batting average with three home runs and 14 RBI.

"They said the recovery time would be three to four weeks," Bruce said. "I've had three weeks of utter rehab. So we're right around that mark. As a professional athlete we have a team of professionals to help us cut the recovery time."

Bryan Price doesn't want to get too excited about Bruce's return but feels that Bruce will have an impact.

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“I don’t think I’ll discuss expectations," Price said. "What I am happy about is how quickly he rebounded from the injury, No. 1, and No. 2 how badly he wants to come back and help the club. He’s hitting fourth in the lineup because he’s an impact bat. That being said, he hasn’t played for a couple of weeks. Got some at bats against Latos in that simulated game in Washington, so we’re looking forward to him getting hot and doing some damage in the middle of our lineup.”

The Reds sent little used Neftali Soto to Triple A Louisville and recalled left-handed power hitter Donald Lutz from Louisville.

Soto appeared in 19 games and had three hits in 28 at bats, including a double with on RBI.

Lutz played 23 games at Pensacola, hitting .360 with six home runs and 16 RBI. On April 21, Lutz hit for the cycle at Jacksonville.  He was promoted to Louisville on May 17.  In five games for the Bats, Lutz hit .200 with a home run and one RBI.

“Lutz’s a young hitter. Look, he’s got power. He’s got speed. He’s got good youthful aggression and he brings all the right type of energy that we want to the ballpark," Price said. "He’s a good corner outfield defender. He’s played first base. He’s got a lot of raw power. We’ve seen what he’s capable of doing, and he’s also gotten off to a terrific start here in our player development system in Double A and Triple A. The other part of this, of course, is we’ve had Neftali Soto pretty much sitting on the bench. He’s had a small handful of starts and a few pinch-hit appearances, and it just wasn’t possible also to allow him to really be able to perform at all. It’s very difficult for a young player to come up and be a bench player. The same goes for Donald. In order for him to be effective, he’s going to have to play, so we’ll see how that unfolds.”