Second baseman Spencer Steer made an early exit from the Reds’ 5-3 win over the Cardinals today due to what the Reds officially described as “right wrist pain.” During a fifth inning at-bat, Steer took an awkward swing while hitting a foul ball and was in obvious discomfort afterwards. A brief visit with the team trainer led to Steer’s departure, and Edwin Arroyo pinch-hitting to complete the plate appearance.
“[Steer] didn’t fight me to come out of that game. That makes me nervous,” manager Terry Francona told MLB.com’s Jeff Jones and other reporters after the game. “We’ll get him looked at, we’ll get him imaged, and then they’re setting up an appointment with the hand specialist.”
More will be known once Steer has been fully evaluated, but losing him to the injured list for any amount of time would be rough for the Reds on multiple fronts. Cincinnati has won four of its last five games, but the team remains only 49-55 and in last place in the NL Central (and five games out of an NL wild card berth). A Steer injury might well end whatever faint hopes the Reds had of a late surge, and it would also likely prevent Steer from being moved at the trade deadline.
There is a widespread expectation that the Reds will be sellers at the deadline, though since the team plans to compete in 2027, Cincinnati could just move impending free agents rather than any players under longer-term control. Steer is arbitration-controlled through the 2028 season, yet the Mariners and other teams have been showing interest as a possible deadline addition.
In a trade market that is relatively thin on hitters, Cincinnati could command a particularly nice return for a player with Steer’s arb control, multi-positional versatility, and ability to mash left-handed hitting. Steer entered today’s action hitting .240/.320/.423 with 16 homers over 382 total plate appearances, but with a 1.062 OPS in 96 PA against southpaws.
Conceivably, an IL stint might not entirely close the door on a Steer deal, if imaging doesn’t reveal any structural damage. A trade suitor could be compelled to still roll the dice on a pretty quick recovery, yet that would be a risk given how wrist and hand injuries can impact a hitter even if there isn’t any direct soreness.
Adding to the unwelcome injury news for the Reds, Francona told Jones and company on Friday that outfielder Blake Dunn will visit Dr. Keith Meister to get a second opinion about a potential elbow surgery. Dunn has missed the last month due to a right elbow sprain, and some recent tests showed ligament damage.
Going under the knife would cost Dunn the rest of the 2026 season, and the nature of the procedure (a Tommy John surgery, an internal brace procedure, etc.) would determine whether or not Dunn can be ready for the start of Spring Training or by next Opening Day. Now in his third year as a part-time member of the Reds’ outfield mix, Dunn posted a .554 OPS over 104 PA in 2024-25 before improving to a .282/.335/.387 slash line over 155 PA this year.
