Manager Dave Trembley has been suffering in silence. He couldn’t use Jay Gibbons in the outfield because of a shoulder injury, but didn’t want opponents to know. So he kept playing the same three outfielders - and kept watching Jay Payton lose steam by the inning.
Gibbons has inflammation around his rotator cuff and can't throw. He was examined Monday by Reds team physician Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who performed the surgery on Brian Roberts' elbow in 2005, and underwent an MRI and arthrogram.
The pain doesn't prevent Gibbons from swinging a bat, which is why he still can be used as the designated hitter. But it limits how often Trembley can put him in the lineup because Aubrey Huff usually handles the DH duties.
Shouldn't the O's jump on any excuse to put Gibbons on the DL and get him off the active roster? Instead they're willing to play a man short yet again, keeping Gibbons on the roster even though his health and the roster configuration makes his role that of the occasional DH.
Gibbons did manage to hit .281 with 3 HR in July, but he also pulled the nifty feat of failing to draw a walk in 58 plate appearances leading to a .281/.276 BA/OBP line. Most of that hot streak was because of a couple games in early June. Over the past four weeks Gibbons is putting up his customary .656 OPS in 13 starts.
And this is the guy they're keeping on the roster through an injury?
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