Injury updates: Schebler, Mesoraco, 3 hurlers
MILWAUKEE -- Reds right fielder Scott Schebler is on target for a return from the 10-day disabled list on Friday in St. Louis, manager Bryan Price said on Wednesday. Schebler has been out with a ulnar nerve contusion in his right elbow since he was hit by a pitch on April 1.
Schebler went 0-for-4 in his third rehab game -- his second with Double-A Pensacola -- while playing all nine innings on Tuesday night. He will not play on Wednesday, before featuring in one more game for Pensacola on Thursday.
"That will give him somewhere in the neighborhood of about 15, 16, 17 at-bats. That should be adequate time," Price said. "He's not having any issues with his hand or elbow. That was really the big issue, because he was having numbness and a lack of feel in his right hand affecting his throwing and ability to grip the bat. It sounds like that subsided drastically."
In the three Minor League games he's played, Schebler is 1-for-10 with a double. Before he was injured, he was the team's best hitter in Spring Training and carried that into his first three regular season games, going 4-for-12 with a double and home run.
Mesoraco sore, but OK
Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco, who exited Tuesday's game against the Brewers in the sixth inning with a right wrist contusion, was relieved the injury wasn't more serious. Mesoraco was hit by a Junior Guerra pitch in the second inning, and it only felt worse as the game went on.
"I was somewhat worried, but we did the X-rays and it was fine," Mesoraco said Wednesday.
Unlike Schebler, Mesoraco isn't experiencing any loss of feeling in his hand. But he was sore.
"It feels about the same [as Tuesday]," said Mesoraco, who was available from the bench.
Hernandez nears rehab assignment
On the heels of David Hernandez's 25-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday, the Reds were hoping that the reliever's right shoulder responds well on Wednesday. If there are no setbacks, Hernandez will join Triple-A Louisville for a rehab assignment on Friday.
"He'll be out there for at least 2-3 outings," Price said.
Hernandez has been out since Spring Training with right shoulder inflammation.
DeSclafani back on a mound
Rehabbing at the Reds' player development complex in Goodyear, Ariz., pitcher Anthony DeSclafani (left oblique strain) is making progress. He was scheduled to throw off of a mound again for the first time on Wednesday in a bullpen session.
DeSclafani is on the 60-day disabled list and not eligible for activation until May 28. Since he was injured in early March, he will essentially have to start his Spring Training program over from scratch.
"It's slightly different because of the nature of the injury," Price said. "You do everything you can to make sure the injury is 100 percent healed, but you're trying to introduce baseball activity through the course of that healing and not do too much. He will have to re-establish a workload, starting with bullpens, live batting practice and then games that will build him up to that roughly 90-100 pitch threshold."
Lorenzen update
Reliever Michael Lorenzen, who has been out since late March because of a right teres major muscle strain near his shoulder, is long tossing up to 90 feet. Lorenzen's first bullpen session is slated for near the end of this month, and he will likely spend some time in Arizona to pitch and work on his mechanics in an effort to prevent another strain.