The Cincinnati Reds placed right-hander Carson Spiers on the 15-day injured list on Sunday due to a right shoulder impingement and selected the contract of right-hander Randy Wynne from Triple-A Louisville.
Spiers had been recalled from Louisville on Friday and was supposed to start Sunday’s road game against the Baltimore Orioles in place of left-hander Nick Lodolo (paternity leave). Instead, Spiers was called into duty on Saturday with the Reds’ bullpen already thin.
He threw 94 pitches (52 for strikes) in four innings of relief in a 9-5 loss to the Orioles. Spiers allowed four runs on five hits — including two home runs — and four walks with three strikeouts.
“We called him, and we were going to send him back (to Louisville). Before that even happened, the trainers came in and they gave me the heads-up,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “So we talked to him, and he kind of fessed up that it had been bothering him actually since spring training.
“I told him, ‘A couple of thoughts. One is, I admire your guts, and two, I want to wring your neck for not telling us.’ He tried to gut it out, and you appreciate that, but also, you don’t want to hurt somebody.”
Spiers, 27, was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday in Cincinnati to diagnose the extent of his injury.
“It’s just been a little nagging thing in the back of my shoulder,” Spiers said. “It’s frustrating, but it will be good to get a sense of clarity on what it is and go from there.
“It’s one of those things when I’m playing catch, I kind of feel it. But once the adrenaline kicks in, it kind of goes away. Blood gets to the area. It helps calm it down a little bit. Once that adrenaline stops and jabs at me a little bit, I want to go get it figured out and go from there.”
Spiers is 0-2 this season with a 6.08 ERA, seven walks and 11 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings over three games (two starts). He has appeared in parts of three seasons since 2023 and is a career 5-10 with a 5.69 ERA, one save, 41 walks and 103 strikeouts in 117 innings over 29 games (14 starts).
Wynne is a 32-year-old rookie who appeared in one game in relief in 2023 and allowed one run, three hits and one walk in 2 1/3 innings for a 0-1 career record with a 3.86 ERA.
