Cincinnati Reds infielder/outfielder Spencer Steer has seen his name fly all over trade rumor boards so far this July, and for good reason. He’s incredibly versatile defensively, he’s hit over 20 homers for three straight seasons, he once swiped 25 bags in a year, and he’s mashing left-handed pitching to the tune of a 1.062 OPS so far in 2026, all while playing for a club in last place that’s barreling towards the deadline with intentions of selling off pieces.
Teams like the Seattle Mariners, Boston
Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Yankees were all rumored to be interested in Steer’s services, which would come with a bonus of two additional years of team control. And when those big names (with big urgency) come circling, the idea of striking while the iron is hot in regards to Steer had become one of Cincinnati’s biggest trade deadline decisions in years.
Steer helped the Reds make that decision a lot easier on Sunday in St. Louis, unfortunately. He fouled off a pitch with an awkward swing and immediately left the game with wrist pain. On Monday, Cincinnati placed him on the 10-day IL with ESPN’s Buster Olney concurrently reporting that Steer ‘will miss signficant time’ with it.
The Reds, to their credit, noted that it’s a ‘wrist sprain’ and not a hamate break (or one of the litany of other ‘breaks’ that could happen when a wrist hurts), but that still muddies the timeframe for how long he’ll be out. Cincinnati also noted that Ivan Johnson has been recalled to the active roster in Steer’s stead.
It has truly seemed as if the 2026 season was destined to be undone by something, anything any time the Reds managed to cobble together momentum. Ace Hunter Greene was shut down for three months in spring training as he needed cleanup surgery in his elbow. Blisters befell first Brady Singer and then Nick Lodolo, twice. Elly De La Cruz hit the shelf for nearly a month, closer Emilio Pagan missed two, and even the indominable Eugenio Suarez was sent to the shelf for a month with an oblique strain. That’s before we mention the decimation to the bullpen that still has Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft claimed after hitting pause on the seasons of Caleb Ferguson and Pierce Johnson first.
Every team deals with injuries, yes. This Reds club, though, has been simply smashed with them, so much so that I failed to originally recall Jose Trevino, Matt McLain, and even Ke’Bryan Hayes being out for extended absences.
Now, it’s Steer’s turn, and how the Reds recover remains to be seen. We don’t know if they were ever truly going to consider trading him, first, and we also don’t know how their 6-3 start to the season’s second half changed their tune on trading away anyone else. What they do get to see now, though, is how much different Terry Francona’s in-game decisions will be without Steer around, as the latter’s versatility unlocked pretty much any decision Tito wanted to make heretofore.
