Sims (elbow) to IL in latest blow to 'pen

The Reds placed reliever Lucas Sims on the 10-day injured list on Thursday (retroactive to Wednesday) with a right elbow sprain, just two days after they activated top reliever Tejay Antone off the IL. Outfielder Scott Heineman was recalled from Triple-A Louisville to fill Sims’ spot on the active roster.

Sims has been one of the go-to options out of Cincinnati’s bullpen, where he has the most wins (four) and most strikeouts (44) while also holding the fourth-best WHIP (1.33) among the 10 Reds relievers with at least 10 appearances in 2021. This is Sims’ first stint on the injured list as a big leaguer, coming right as the Reds were set to play 11 straight games at Great American Ball Park.

“I feel for Lucas,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He’s doing so well. He’s got a great career ahead of him. He’s shown that over the last year, year and a half. He’s got a long way to go. I know he loves to compete, he loves to win. He loves being a part of this team, so it’ll be a tough few weeks for him, I’m sure.”

Bell said the team believed Sims had just “slept on his elbow wrong” during last week’s road trip in San Diego. Cincinnati didn’t use Sims during the four-game series at Petco Park, but after his appearance in Minnesota on Tuesday, he felt more pain. The decision was then made to shut him down.

“It just wasn't getting better,” Sims said. “It was manageable for a little bit, and then it felt like it was going to get worse before I'm going to get better. I figured now would be a good time. Let's nip this thing in the bud.”

The examination on Sims’ elbow Wednesday was a relief, according to both Sims and Bell. The injury won’t require surgery, though Bell also said the initial expectation is that he will miss 3-4 weeks of action.

Sims’ IL placement is the latest blow to Cincinnati’s relief corps, right when Antone’s return was supposed to bolster it. Though the relievers’ collective statistics have been closer to the middle of the pack over the Reds’ last 13 games (their 136 strikeouts in that span also rank No. 3 behind the Mets and the Brewers), their 5.70 ERA on the season is the worst mark among Major League bullpens.

Antone, Heath Hembree and Brad Brach will be the arms used in high-leverage situations while Sims (team-high seven saves) recovers.

“We’re going to have so much ahead of us, even for this year, so [we are] looking at the bright side, get it tinkered up now, get him back for the most important part of the year,” Bell said. “Unfortunately, so many teams are dealing with injuries, and it does make you really kind of double down on how important everything we do is for keeping guys healthy.

“I have a feeling we’ll look back this year, and that’ll be a really important part of who succeeds at the end of the year.”

Worth noting
Sonny Gray was scheduled to make a rehab start with Triple-A Louisville on Thursday, but after waking up with a stiff back on Wednesday, Gray’s start has been moved to Saturday. The original plan -- assuming he didn’t suffer a setback -- was to have Gray rejoin the rotation on Tuesday. With his start pushed back, the Reds still hope Gray can return five days later.

“If everything goes well today and tomorrow, everything will just get pushed back two days,” Bell said.

Quotable
“I’m pretty aware, and it’s the most important thing to me. I want to win. We all want to win. But I know in my heart, I never put that ahead of our guys’ health. No. 1 for their health, and because I care about them, but also because that’s really important to our team, and looking at the big picture is really important. I’m always taking a look at that.” -- Bell, on concerns over how high-leverage arms are used