Moose (quad) can't play vs. KC; Strop to IL

CINCINNATI -- Reds second baseman Mike Moustakas would have loved a chance to face the former club he’s most associated with -- the Royals -- this week in a two-game series. But that will have to wait, as Moustakas continues to heal from a right quadriceps bruise and strain that have him on the 10-day injured list.

“I was trying to get ready to play today, did everything possible I could,” Moustakas said Tuesday, ahead of Cincinnati's 6-5, 10-inning walk-off win over Kansas City. “And it just wasn’t going to happen. I just wasn’t able. I have not run yet. I haven’t seen any pitching since I was out of the lineup. But I think as soon as these 10 days are up, I’m going be ready to go.”

Moustakas went on the IL on Sunday, retroactive to Aug. 5, after he had to leave the previous day’s game vs. Cleveland in the fifth inning. But he was injured during Cincinnati's previous series with Detroit.

“I ended up trying to go up the middle for a line drive one-hopper, and my foot got kind of caught in the ground and kind of slid out from underneath me,” Moustakas explained. “I didn’t think anything of it. I just kept playing. Then the next day, I came in and was a little sore but not anything too much. I kept playing. And then a couple of days later, I just couldn’t move my leg anymore.

“I was pretty much non-competitive out there. Especially the season right now when we’ve got 60 games, we’ve got to be out there competing every single pitch, and I wasn’t able to do that.”

Aside from the ability to work out at Great American Ball Park, Moustakas can also make use of the alternate training site at Prasco Park. It’s possible he could get swings in simulated games at both places.

“Hopefully, he’s even ready a day or two before [Sunday], and we will have made the wrong decision by a day or two,” Reds manager David Bell said. “That would be a good thing. We’ll be sure that he’s 100 percent ready and it won’t reoccur, which can happen with any injury.”

Strop placed on IL
The Reds placed reliever Pedro Strop on the 10-day IL on Tuesday with a right groin strain, and they recalled infielder/outfielder Josh VanMeter from Prasco Park. Like Moustakas, Strop was injured during the Aug. 4 game at Cleveland, but the club chose to wait before making a roster move.

“I haven't heard anything too much different to make me believe that there would be anything before the 10-day IL,” Bell said. “You can go back three days, so I don't think we really lost any time by waiting until today.”

Strop, who signed a one-year, $1.825 million contract with Cincinnati on Feb. 5 that will be prorated this season, has a 3.86 ERA in four appearances with three runs (one earned) allowed with one hit, six walks and three strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings.

VanMeter, 25, made the Opening Day roster but was 0-for-14 with two walks in seven games before he was optioned out on Aug. 6. Able to play second base in Moustakas’ absence, among other spots, he batted .237 with eight homers in 95 games as a rookie last season. On Tuesday, he entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and went 0-for-2.

Lorenzen looking for positives
The rough appearances have piled up on Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen, but he is determined to ride it out and find his way back to success. In seven games entering Tuesday night, Lorenzen has a 16.88 ERA with 10 earned runs, nine hits, five walks and three home runs allowed through 5 1/3 innings. He’s retired the first batter he has faced twice.

On Sunday, Lorenzen didn’t retire any of his four batters, and he allowed a hit and three walks. Three earned runs were charged to him, with two inherited runners going on starter Sonny Gray’s ledger.

“It's a growing process, so really, there's a couple things I'm learning,” Lorenzen said Tuesday. “It's learning when you keep getting punched in the face -- you've just got to keep moving forward and keep going forward, and then there's always positives to take away from it.

“It's no secret how hard I work, so it's not like this is intentional or anything like that -- but the positives that I can't take from it as I'm constantly learning more and more about who I am as a pitcher, who I am as a person and the quicker I can confirm who I am on the mound, the quicker I'm able to be a consistently good pitcher in the Major Leagues.”

Lorenzen feels like he needs to keep attacking hitters in the strike zone.

“That was my recipe the year before,” he said. “And it's worked out so far, so why would I change, you know, after a week of something that wasn't working? ... I have zero doubt in my mind that, you know, it's upward from here.”