Cincinnati Reds centerfielder Dane Myers made one of the more incredible, high-effort catches you’ll ever see during last night’s crushing loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Ranging to his right, he reached a full sprint while reaching over his head to catch a liner off the bat of Andrew Vaughn, but in doing so caused himself to lose balance just feet from the outfield wall.
As a result, he hit it going full speed, his left shoulder taking the brunt of the force. He went down immediately and was ultimately
taken off the field by the cart.
Today, he was unceremoniously placed on the 10-day IL by the Reds as part of a larger series of roster moves. The official word from the Reds was that he’s got a ‘left shoulder contusion,’ and frankly, I can’t believe that’s all he has as the impact was so fierce that I expected to hear he’d broken a shoulder, a collarbone, or something.
Replacing Myers on the active roster will be Ivan Johnson, who at 27 years old finally gets his first shot at big league play. He’s a product of Kennesaw Mountain High School in Georgia – the alma mater of one Tyler Stephenson – as well as Florida’s Chipola College (where top prospect Cam Collier went), and the former 4th round pick will literally provide depth at just about every position on the diamond. He also participated in the most recent World Baseball Classic as a member of Team Great Britain, lining up with the likes of Jazz Chisholm, Harry Ford, and Trayce Thompson.
The Reds also activated closer Emilio Pagán as part of their roster shuffling, and they optioned righty Zach McCambley to AAA to make way. In theory, this will help the dominoes in the bullpen fall more appropriately in place with the closer back in the 9th inning role given that each of Graham Ashcraft and Tony Santillan are similarly on the IL for long stints. I only say in theory because Pagán himself was struggling mightily prior to his hamstring injury, so a simple return to the health he had before the injury won’t do much to improve the Reds league-worst bullpen xERA or second-worst FIP.
