Just yesterday the Cincinnati Reds made room on both the 40-man and active rosters for lefty Reiver Sanmartin on a day when scheduled starter Nick Lodolo was sidelined late by an illness. A bullpen game ensued, with Reiver getting 1.2 IP on the mound in his first big league action since early May of 2023.
His return was shortlived, however. After gassing their bullpen in a 12-9 slugfest loss to the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday, the Reds optioned Sanmartin back to AAA in order to bring up Lyon Richardson,
who’s apparently fresher. The Reds announced the move on Twitter on Wednesday morning.
Of course, the other big news in said announcement was that Tyler Stephenson will begin his rehab assignment with AAA Louisville after being sidelined with a busted thumb since August 15th. In theory, it will be an obvious boost to the Reds lineup when Tyler returns given that Jose Trevino has slumped to a miserable .182/.229/.205 line in 48 PA in the 15 games in which he’s appeared since Tyler hit the shelf.
The Reds sit perilously close to the .500 mark at just 70-69 prior to Wednesday’s series finale in Great American Ball Park against Toronto. That has them tied with the San Francisco Giants in the standings a full 5.0 games back of the New York Mets, who are in possession of the final Wild Card spot in the National League at the moment. That said, both the Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals are lurking at 69-71, meaning the Reds are that close to slipping from ‘in playoff contention’ to ‘drafting in the lottery in 2026,’ which is a pretty good indictment of just how poorly this season has progressed after its promising start.
