Cincinnati Reds

Graham Ashcraft

RP

Ashcraft got the injection after a second opinion confirmed he's dealing with a UCL sprain. The right-hander was immediately placed on the 60-day injured list following the injury last Friday and is not expected back until some point after the All-Star break.

Elly De La Cruz

SS

De La Cruz was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier Monday for the first time in his major-league career. He could get another MRI in a couple weeks to check the status of his progress, but early indications are that De La Cruz will likely be sidelined for 2-to-4 weeks. Matt McLain is drawing the start at shortstop for Cincinnati in Monday's game versus the Royals, and Edwin Arroyo is making his major-league debut at second base.

Emilio Pagan

RP

With the MRI results indicating Pagan is healing, the reliever has been cleared to run on an anti-gravity treadmill. Pagan was removed from a game May 5 and placed on the 15-day injured list the next day. He's eligible to return at any point but his original return timeline of four-to-eight weeks is a wide window.

Pierce Johnson

RP

Meanwhile, the Reds turned to Sam Moll to pitch the eighth, and then Tony Santillan pitched a clean ninth inning to get the save. Johnson had given up a homer in most recent outing Saturday, perhaps taking him out of consideration for this save chance. He now has a 3.72 ERA and 1.34 WHIP over 19.1 innings for the season.

Rhett Lowder

SP

Francona indicated previously that Lowder would rejoin the Reds' rotation for Sunday's series finale as long as he got through Tuesday's rehab start at Triple-A Louisville without any hiccups. That happened, as the righty had an 8:0 K:BB over five innings while yielding three runs. Lowder threw 70 pitches on Tuesday, so he will not be fully stretched out against the Cardinals. The right-hander has been sidelined since early May due to right shoulder discomfort.