SAN FRANCISCO — Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a strained left hamstring that the team expects will heal quickly by giving him some days to rest.
Manager Terry Francona said McLain had been bothered by the leg in recent days, and it made sense to get him off his legs and be cautious in the hope that he can come back in a week.
“There’s just so much baseball left to play that it just didn’t seem like it made a lot of sense to try to push through this right now,” Francona said before the Reds played the middle game of their three-game series series against the San Francisco Giants.
McLain was batting .214 with three home runs and five RBIs over eight games, including seven starts at second base. Without him, the Reds’ depth is tested given Spencer Steer is currently unavailable to play the field because of a tender throwing shoulder — and he was the designated hitter batting seventh Tuesday.
Steer began the season on the IL still dealing with a lingering right shoulder issue that he played through last year. He received a cortisone shot in the shoulder March 1 at spring training.
Gavin Lux was set to start at second in McLain’s place on Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, Cincinnati optioned right-hander Carson Spiers to Triple-A Louisville and recalled infielder Noelvi Marte and outfielder Will Benson from Louisville.
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