The Reds got a key bullpen piece back on Monday when right-handed reliever Robert Stephenson was activated from the 10-day injured list. To make room on the roster, lefty reliever Cody Reed was designated for assignment.

Before landing on the injured list with a mid-back strain, Stephenson worked one game this season, when he allowed two earned runs -- including a solo home run -- in one-third of an inning on July 25.

Despite his pitching mostly when the Reds were trailing before eventual losses, Reed’s departure is not insignificant. The 27-year-old was one of the three promising lefties acquired from the Royals in the July 26, 2015, trade for ace Johnny Cueto.

Reed endured mostly inconsistency with Cincinnati, first in a starting role and later as a bullpen piece. He was 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA over nine games this season and 2-12 with a 5.44 ERA in 51 games (18 starts) since debuting with the Reds in 2016.

“We know how talented Cody is. It’s not an easy decision,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I would think that there’s a chance he ends up on another Major League team. He just wasn’t getting the opportunities. He wasn’t pitching in high-leverage situations. Robert did that for us last year. He’s healthy. He’s ready to go.

“We hate to see Cody go. I know it will work out for him, but he’s been with our organization, he has a lot of friends here. I know he’ll miss being here, but it’ll be an opportunity for him to move on and get a chance with another team.”

The last remaining pitcher from the Cueto trade is Brandon Finnegan, who last appeared in the Majors in 2018 and was taken off the 40-man roster last season. Finnegan spent much of last summer at Driveline, a data-driven baseball performance center outside Seattle. The 27-year-old finished 2019 with Double-A Chattanooga and pitched to a 6.60 ERA in 13 games.

Finnegan was added to the 60-man player pool and assigned to the alternate training site at Prasco Park earlier this month. But if the Reds were to need another lefty reliever to complement Amir Garrett, Jesse Biddle would likely be next on the depth chart.

Bell sticking with Votto
Following a strong start to 2020, first baseman Joey Votto has seen his numbers plummet. Votto was moved to the leadoff spot for Monday's series opener vs. Milwaukee and came into the night having gone 3-for-22 in his last six games, including going hitless in his last 11 at-bats. Bell is not looking to drop Votto in the batting order or take him out of the lineup altogether.

“He absolutely is [leading off] now,” Bell said. “We’re always looking to make sure we have our best team out there every day. And up until now for so many reasons, Joey has been a part of our lineup and been part of our best team every day, and that continues as of tonight. But that’s my anticipation that that will continue. That’s my expectation. Our best team is when Joey is at his best.”

Hitting coach: 'Stay the course'
The Reds have disappointed offensively and entered Monday ranked last the Majors in both team average and batting average on balls in play (BABIP). Hitting coach Alan Zinter continues to have faith that his hitters will start to click before it’s too late.

“There’s no question that we’ve been very inconsistent this year from an offensive side,” Zinter said before Monday’s game. “What do you? You stay the course. You stay the course in what you believe. We believe in these players. That’s the biggest thing, understanding how to stay the course. You can look at the numbers, I think it’s been a lot of bad luck, too. It’s unbelievable to see our batting average on balls in play, and we’ve also hit some really hard balls. That’s not an excuse. We have been very inconsistent in scoring runs. We need to score more runs. We need to get more hits. We need to do what we’re capable of doing and we’re not doing that right now.

“We’re going to stay the course and focus on getting these guys to be who they are. We’re not going to just blow this thing up and panic and do all of these things that start to do all of that.”

While Votto, Nick Castellanos, Eugenio Suárez and Mike Moustakas are among those slumping, Jesse Winker is one hitter who has found his way out of the woods. Winker has had a blistering three weeks at the plate after a terrible start but didn’t change anything with his approach.

“I think everybody in their career has been able to do -- or have that feeling of feeling really, really bad at the plate like you can’t hit or you just don’t know what’s going on, to all of a sudden one pitch, one swing locks you in for weeks or a month,” Zinter said. “It’s just unexplainable, but it’s something that gives hope. It gives everybody a chance. Everybody knows that’s going to happen at some point. It’s just that we need it to happen sooner because it’s a shortened season.”