After going for so long without any days off, it feels weird as a fan of the Cincinnati Reds for them to have two off days so close together. There was no game yesterday, but the team still made some news by tweaking their starting rotation.

The Reds have pushed Tony Cingrani back a day in their rotation, keeping right-hander Mat Latos on his regular rest, pitching Thursday in Miami, with the lefty Cingrani pitching Friday in Philadephia.

Anything having to do with Cingrani and Leake, of course, makes the wannabe Walt Jockettys on Twitter fire up the speculation machine about what to do when Johnny Cueto successfully completes his rehab assignment. And that’s what this week’s blogger question on Red Reporter deals with.

With Johnny Cueto returning from the DL soon, who gets bumped from the rotation?

Head over for the insight from your favorite Reds blogs. I’m partial to mine, naturally, as I feel I solve two issues in one transaction. We’ll just have to find a machine to navigate the time vortex.

The Cincinnati Reds activated catcher Ryan Hanigan from the disabled list before Friday’s game, and he was in the lineup to catch Tony Cingrani. And he showed that he’s healthy.

Before heading to the DL, Hanigan was miserable at the plate. In 38 at bats, he had 3 hits with a terrible .079 average. With his 5 walks, his on-base percentage was at .182, half of his career percentage.

But in his return to the lineup tonight, Hanigan went 2 for 4, nearly doubling his total number of hits on the season. And one of the balls he hit was the hardest ball I’ve seen him hit all year.

Of course, bringing Hanigan back means it’s time to say goodbye to lovable mustachioed mascot Corky Miller. Miller’s an entertaining, larger-than-life personality who just isn’t quite good enough to be a major league backup. It’s too bad, but I do hope to see him coaching some day.

Until then, the Reds are one step closer to full strength, with pitcher Johnny Cueto and outfielder Chris Heisey both a few weeks away.

Just as Johnny Cueto was set to begin a rehab outing in the minors, he suffered a setback.

Cueto, who is on the DL for a strained right lat, felt soreness in his oblique muscle.

“He had a good bullpen [Monday] and he didn’t experience anything in his arm but he experienced soreness in that oblique that he hurt last year in the playoffs,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “So, we’ll wait and see.”

Ugh. I know Tony Cingrani is dominating the majors right now, but filling in for a pitcher like Cueto is too much pressure for a rookie, no matter how talented.

Cueto’s not shown himself to be the most durable pitcher over his career, with last year being the only one of his five where he topped 200 innings pitched. Hopefully, this soreness will be nothing too serious and the healing time will serve to make Cueto healthy and ready to finish the season strong.

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.

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.