With the minor injuries to Zack Cozart and Jonathan Broxton recently, I started thinking about how injury prone the Cincinnati Reds have seemed so far during the 2013 season. So I loaded up a list of all the injured players across Major League Baseball to compare the Reds to their National League Central opponents.

The Milwaukee Brewers have been the unluckiest, with seven players on the disabled list. The Chicago Cubs are next with six, the Reds have five, and the Pittsburgh Pirates have four. That leaves the St. Louis Cardinals as the healthiest team, with just three players on the DL.

The Brewers have been hit the hardest by far, with two players out for the season. Aramis Ramirez, Mark Rogers, and Jeff Bianchi are on pace to be back in the next few weeks, but Corey Hart and Chris Narveson aren’t expected back until May.

None of the Cubs players are listed as being out for the entire season, but they are the Cubs. Historically, no one is as unlucky as them.

That brings us to the Reds. Like the Cubs, no one is out for the year, although at this point it’s easy to wonder if Nick Masset will ever pitch again. He hasn’t pitched since 2011. Ryan Ludwick is the most severely injured and isn’t expected back until the All Star Break. The rest–Sean Marshall, Johnny Cueto, and Ryan Hanigan–are all expected back in May.

The Pirates have been healthy during the season. All of their four players started the season on the DL.

The Cardinals are similar to the Pirates. Two of their three players were placed on the DL during spring training. Those two–Chris Carpenter and Rafeal Furcal–were big potential parts of the team and will be missing the entire season. Jason Motte is the only one to be injured during the season.

Overall, the Reds seem to be in the middle of the pack. Sure, all but one of their disabled players have occurred in the first month of the season. But with the exception of Ryan Ludwick, those injuries appear to be minor and the players are expected back in May. Assuming the rash of injuries stops, then the earliness of the season almost insures that these injuries won’t have a major impact on the team’s overall performance.

Milwaukee Brewers (7)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/20/13	Mark Rogers	SP	Shoulder	15-day DL. Expected to make Double-A rehab start April 23
04/19/13	Taylor Green	1B	Hip	15-day DL. Out for season
04/13/13	Jeff Bianchi	SS	Hip	15-day DL. On Double-A rehab assignment
04/09/13	Chris Narveson	RP	Finger	15-day DL. Out until at least early May
04/08/13	Corey Hart	1B	Knee	60-day DL. Out until at least late May
04/06/13	Aramis Ramirez	3B	Knee	15-day DL. Out until at least mid-April
03/20/13	Mat Gamel	1B	Knee	60-day DL. Out for season

Chicago Cubs (6)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/22/13	Matt Garza	SP	Elbow, lat	15-day DL. Expected to make Double-A rehab start April 24
04/14/13	Steve Clevenger	C	Oblique	60-day DL. Out until at least mid-June
04/13/13	Kyuji Fujikawa	RP	Forearm	15-day DL. Out until at least late April
03/31/13	Scott Baker	SP	Elbow	60-day DL. Out until at least late May
03/27/13	Arodys Vizcaino	RP	Elbow	60-day DL. Out until at least early August
04/14/13	Ian Stewart	3B	Quadriceps	15-day DL. On Triple-A rehab assignment

Cincinnati Reds (5)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/22/13	Sean Marshall	RP	Shoulder	15-day DL. On Triple-A rehab assignment
04/21/13	Ryan Hanigan	C	Thumb	15-day DL. Out until at least early May
04/21/13	Nick Masset	RP	Shoulder	60-day DL. Out until at least late May
04/15/13	Johnny Cueto	SP	Triceps	15-day DL. Out until at least late April
04/15/13	Ryan Ludwick	LF	Shoulder	60-day DL. Out until at least early July

Pittsburgh Pirates (4)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/22/13	Charlie Morton	SP	Elbow	15-day DL. Expected to make Double-A rehab start April 23
04/20/13	Francisco Liriano	SP	Arm	15-day DL. On Double-A rehab assignment
04/10/13	Jeff Karstens	SP	Shoulder	15-day DL. Out until at least mid-April
03/20/13	Chase d’Arnaud	SS	Thumb	60-day DL. Out until at least early June

St. Louis Cardinals (3)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/12/13	Jason Motte	RP	Elbow	15-day DL. Out until at least early May
03/30/13	Chris Carpenter	SP	Neck, arm	60-day DL. Out for season
03/23/13	Rafael Furcal	SS	Elbow	15-day DL. Out until at least early September

Long gone are the days when the Cincinnati Reds had a rotation of Aaron Harang followed by pray for rain. No, now each day brings with it confidence in whoever the Reds have starting that day. That transformation is due, in large part, to pitching coach Bryan Price.

The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a profile on him over the weekend.

Detailing his accomplishments with the Reds, the article notes that in his first three seasons the Reds ranked seventh, 12th and third in team ERA. Prior to his arrival, the Reds were often seen in the middle of the pack, if not worse. Last year was arguably the team’s best pitching performance in the history of the franchise. In addition to finishing third in team ERA, the team set a record for the total number of strikeouts with 1,248, finished first in the Major Leagues in relief ERA (2.65) and saves (56), first in the NL in opponents’ BA vs relievers (.219) and fourth in the NL in starters’ ERA (3.64). Not to mention none of the starters missing a single regular season start.

Yeah, the guy’s good. But what makes him so effective? What’s his approach

“It’s very similar to what everyone else talks about: Being aggressive, working ahead and staying ahead in the count, composure, preparation and accountability,” he said. “The last one is the hardest. When you don’t succeed, it’s hard to own your own failure and not look for other places to blame.

“That’s real hard. Character is hard to find. We really try to make sure the starters understand their obligation to pitch innings. That’s one thing we’ve impressed upon them wherever we’ve been. Relief guys aren’t supposed to be in 80 games a year. And when they are, it’s because the starting rotation isn’t getting the job done.”

Homer Bailey has high praise for Price, crediting him with not only finding problems but having plans on fixing the problem. And given Bailey’s rough time at the beginning of his tenure as a Red, that’s saying something. Bailey seemed close to un-coachable his first couple years. That’s changed, and everybody’s happy with Bailey’s improvement.

And to think, the team was close to losing him. Lest you forget, in the off-season Price was considering interviewing for the Miami Marlins job. Given the ineptitude of the Marlins team that just lost 3 of 4 to Cincinnati–and were very close to being swept–I have to think Price feels he made the right choice.

I know I’m happy he signed that extension. As awesome as Shin-Soo Choo has been in this first month of the season, retaining Price as the pitching coach is the most important move the Reds made during the off-season.

Cincinnati Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan has had a rough start to the 2013 season. His batting average is .079 and his on-base percentage is an uncharacteristic .182. So the news today of him being placed on the 15 day disabled list isn’t surprising.

Hanigan had been dealing with an injury to his right thumb, but Reds manager Dusty Baker said Hanigan hurt his oblique in the ninth inning of Frida’s game against the Marlins when he reached high to catch a fastball from Aroldis Chapman. The time on the DL will also help give his thumb time to heal.

Between a sore thumb and a strained oblique, no wonder he was struggling.

In Hanigan’s place, fan-favorite Corky Miller has been called up from Louisville. He, and his mustache, were in uniform for Sunday’s game. While he’ll get a few starts, the bulk of the catching time will be given to Devin Mesoraco.

Mesoraco, unlike Hanigan, is off to a solid start this year. And with the presence of Miller, his mentor, he’s likely to continue doing well.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Marlins (3-13)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	2
Reds (9-7)	0	0	1	4	4	2	0	0	-	11	12	0

Boxscore

What a game that was yesterday! It’s amazing how a four-game winning streak makes you forget all about a five-game losing streak. It’s almost as if winning cures all.

Except for criticizing Joey Votto, but that’s lead to a fabulous new meme.

Yesterday had everything. Good pitching, good offense, and a feel-good story about a bat boy.

Tony Cingrani made his first major league start, in place of an injured Johnny Cueto, and showed that he has the stuff to compete. Granted, it was against the Miami Marlins, so it’s hardly a step above the AAA competition he’s used to, but Cingrani still did well. In five innings, he allowed one run on five hits and three walks and struck out 8.

Cingrani’s clearly a work in progress, as that’s too many people to allow on base to be successful against actual major league teams on a prolonged basis. Additionally, his pitch count of 102 was too high for five innings. Still, there’s some promising stuff there. If I remember correctly, Cueto wasn’t dissimilar to that when he first arrived.

As for the offense, they started in the third and hardly stopped for the rest of the game. While Votto was at the plate, Jose Fernandez unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Shin-Soo Choo to score the Reds’ first run.

In the next inning, the Reds really felt comfortable with Fernandez and put together four hits, a walk, and a sacrifice fly to push their run total to five. They weren’t done, but that was all they’d need. In the fifth, the Reds scored four more. And then in the sixth, Todd Frazier hit his fifth home run of the season to give the Reds 11 runs on the day.

The bullpen held the Marlins scoreless for the rest of the game, ensuring Cingrani’s first start would also be his first win.

The Reds look to extend their win streak tonight when Mat Latos goes against Kevin Slowey. The first pitch is at 7:10pm.

Information about Johnny Cueto’s injury is finally known. He has a strained right lat muscle and will miss at least 3 starts after being placed on the 15-day disabled list.

To take his spot, the Cincinnati Reds moved Ryan Ludwick to the 60-day disabled list and called up right-handed reliever Justin Freeman. Freeman, a reliever, is likely intended to provide some help to an overworked bullpen until it’s Cueto’s next time to start, at which point Tony Cingrani will be called up.

Cueto’s injury is similar to one that had him miss his final 4 starts of 2011, but he’s optimistic he won’t miss that much time.

“I don’t think this is going to affect me at all,” Cueto said through interpreter Tomas Vera. “I think, God willing, I’ll be better in five-six days and I’ll be able to start throwing.”

Being better in 5-6 days would be awesome, but is highly unlikely. Even if he were, there’s no way the Reds rush him back. The season is way too early to take an unnecessary risk like that.

Still, Cueto’s a hard pitcher to replace. The sooner he comes back, the better the team is.