Will Benson NL Player of the Week; Other Reds on the Mend

The Reds, like many other teams, are dealing with injuries that have caused them to move players around the minors and positions in the big leagues.

Jake Fraley, who was eligible to come off the injured list on Saturday. He had a good workout, according to Terry Francona, but he is still on the shelf.

The Reds aren’t exactly sweating out his return because Will Benson is boosting the Reds’ offense and saving runs on defense.

Benson was named the National League Player of the Week.

The 26-year-old hit .526 (10-for-19) with five homers, 10 RBI, a double, three walks, five runs scored, a stolen base, a 1.368 slugging percentage and a .591 on-base percentage, led the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS (1.959), homers and total bases (26); tied for the Major League lead in RBI and extra-base hits (6); and tied for fourth in hits. He hit five home runs in a four-game span. With a double on Monday against the Pittsburgh Pirates has an extra-base hit in six straight games.

Rhett Lowder threw 29 pitches for Louisville on Saturday. He didn’t make it out of the first inning, in which he gave up four runs.

Noelvi Marte, out with a strained oblique, will be imaged on May 7 instead of June 4, a week early.

“They feel like he’s doing pretty well, so that’s good,” Terry Francona said.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is out with lower back inflammation.

“He’s doing really well. At some point, we’ll get him into games out there (Arizona). Then we will transition him to Louisville to start his rehab process,” Francona said.

Jeimer Candelario (lumbar spine strain) flew to Arizona on Sunday to start his baseball activities.

Carson Spiers has a right shoulder impingement.

“He had a recheck with Dr. (Timothy) Kremchek. He threw today (Saturday) for the first time. He is way ahead of where they thought he was going to be,” Francona said.

Hunter Greene (right groin strain) threw a 35-pitch side on Sunday.

“He was throwing off the mound just to get some data,” Francona said.