Cincinnati Reds weather early storms despite tough losses in Texas as they eye IL returns

ARLINGTON, Texas – About the time Cincinnati Reds outfielder Will Benson started answering a question about all the early season injuries and the flu-like bugs that have run through the clubhouse the first month of the season, Jake Fraley walked into the clubhouse, coughing on the way to his locker.

Benson stopped in mid-sentence and looked up.

Enough said.

Fraley, the last of the dozen or so players and staff to return from illness, had been back in the lineup only a day at that point.

And yet here the beat-to-hell Reds were with a winning record as they closed out the first month of the season, a season-series win against the formidable Philadelphia Phillies in hand and fresh off a series against the Texas Rangers in which the Reds outpitched the defending champs and came within perhaps two plays of sweeping them.

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They settled for a Saturday victory in a rout sandwiched by a pair of one-run, low-scoring losses but wound up with a winning record a month into the season for the first time in more than a decade (2013).

“That’s what I’m saying,” said Benson, who homered in a two-hit game Saturday as he began to reach full strength after his own bout with the Red ague. “It’s pretty impressive.”

After miserable starts the last two seasons, the Reds take their sea-worthy start this year into the deep waters of their schedule in May.

Their hope is that as their schedule gets tougher, their roster might actually get better.

Center fielder and lineup ignitor TJ Friedl (March 16 wrist fracture) starts an injury rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville on Thursday. Opening Day starter Frankie Montas (forearm bruise) started throwing again over the weekend and expects to ramp up this week in San Diego for a possible return from the injured list around his eligible date of May 7.

Friedl could be right behind that.

“It’s pretty clear what TJ brings to the table,” Benson said. “Regardless of if he starts fast or slow, his presence alone is shifting. And then another one is Montas. Without even having to say it, we know just having him in the rotation makes us better. His energy and his presence is a key component of us feeling more equipped.”

Whether that gives them the additional edge needed to perform as well in May as they did in April, it’s hard to overstate the value of getting off to the winning start under circumstances that have left them a key man short in the rotation and three or more short in the lineup since the season began.

The Reds were down five lineup regulars at one point during the Mariners’ sweep of them in Seattle two weeks ago.

“We obviously have a tough stretch here. The month of May is tough,” general manager Brad Meador said. “But we have weathered it. It’s a testament to the group overall, the fight in this group and how they stick together. It’s bigger than just an injury here or injury there.

“As our position players have been beat up a little more, the starting pitching has also stepped up, and that’s been a key.”

That went into much of the thinking during the offseason when the front office not only filled roster gaps on the pitching staff but doubled down with Montas, swingman Nick Martinez and relievers Emilio Pagán, Brent Suter and Justin Wilson.

One byproduct of that is not feeling any temptation to rush 2023 rookie starter Brandon Williamson, who appears back to full strength from a spring shoulder strain as he prepared for an imminent minor-league rehab assignment.

It’s not clear where the promising Williamson would fit in a Reds rotation that already runs six deep with Montas, but the worst-case scenario would have him starting every fifth day in the wings at Louisville as the next man up.

“That’s why depth is talked about a lot in the offseason,” manager David Bell said. “Organizational depth and all that matters.”

Especially when the stakes have risen so significantly so fast since this time a year ago.

By the time the weekend series in Texas against the Rangers was over, the Reds had the tying run at second base with one out in the ninth before dropping Sunday's finale 4-3 – coming back after a pair of two-run Rangers home runs in the first inning.

The Rangers scored in only four of 25 offensive innings during the series, Reds pitchers posting a 3.60 ERA, the lineup outscoring the champs 12-10, and the defense playing errorless baseball in the series.

Facing the Rangers for the first time in his 27th career start Sunday, left-hander Andrew Abbott retired 11 straight after a two-out, four-batter sequence in the first that included two-run homers by Adolis Garcia and Wyatt Langford — the latter an inside-the-park homer on a carom off the goofy angled wall in right field.

He pitched into the sixth, and because the Rangers didn’t score again, a three-run Reds sixth dramatically changed the complexion of that game, albeit not enough in the end.

“Just to be able to keep it together, keep us right there, we’re going to win a lot of those games,” Bell said. “We continue to play like that, really good things are going to happen.”

Especially if the roster gets incrementally better with the sick guys feeling stronger over the next few days — like Jonathan India, who returned from a bug Thursday, then delivered three multi-hit games against Texas over the weekend (including that 4-for-4 Saturday)?

Especially with key guys back from injuries in the next week or so?

With this best-in-a-decade start already in the bank over the first month?

“Wins-and-losses-wise we probably left a couple out there,” said catcher Luke Maile, whose leadoff double off the left-field wall opened the big sixth on Sunday. “But we’ve obviously played pretty solid baseball the majority of the time. We’ve got some really good pitching performances. I think our starters have been better this year than most of last. There’s a lot of things to like.

“The most important thing is we’ve continued to play hard. We haven’t lost our identity throughout this just because we’ve had some missing pieces. Ultimately, that’s what’s going to help us moving forward this season."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds drop tough series to champs in Texas, eye healthier roster in May