Reds Use Fat Bullpen Skinny Bench Schumaker Out Lutz In

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It doesn't have everything to do with Jonathan Broxton and Jumbo Diaz but the Reds have loaded the bullpen for the final three games before the All-Star break against the Pittsburgh Pirates.






The other side of the equation, the bench is as barren as Northern Montana in winter.






The Reds placed Brandon Phillips on the 15-day disabled list after he had successful surgery to repair the ligaments on his left thumb. 


Third catcher Tucker Barnhart was optioned to Triple A Louisville.

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The Reds summoned Carlos Contreras, who was sent down yesterday but never made the drive to Louisville.  Curtis Partch, who last pitched when he earned a save in the Bats win over Toledo, was recalled for his third trip to the big club.

“Really, our situation was we had a bunch of guys who’d pitched three days in a row," Bryan Price said.. "So we’ve got some challenges, so today, the two additions to the bullpen were just necessary pieces. If for any reason, if we had to play 15 innings, we couldn’t do that. By tomorrow, for those guys who don’t get in there today, a day of rest should help us feel good for the remaining two days of the series and get us another position player. We’ll have to wait and see how we get through today.”

 

The moves leave Kristopher Negron, Brayan Pena and Skip Schumaker, who was banged up trying to catch Luis Valbuena's game-winning triple on Thursday.




As this post was being written the Reds announced that Skip Schumaker was placed on the seven-day concussion list and Donald Lutz was recalled from Louisville.

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‘He’s a little banged up," Price said of Schumaker this afternoon before the decision was made to disable him. "We’re still kind of kicking the tires there over the course of the work day. We’ve kind of weathered the storm. We’re going through some rough weather right now with the roster the way it is. We’ll have 3 bench players tonight and we might do some juggling through this weekend series.”

Three guys are left on the bench.

 

“Creativity is in order, for sure," Price said. "Those are the challenges of the season. We went through them the first couple of months and now we’re back there again. The timing couldn’t be better with the four-day break coming up, not just to nurse some injuries but to assess where we are. The starters should be rested, which might not necessitate an eight-man bullpen and allow us to have a little more bench strength.”