Cincinnati Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer is making an attempt to remain contemporary

MILWAUKEE –– Cincinnati Red’s shortstop Kyle Farmer pointed out all of the places he’s been pitched this season.

He rolled up his sleeve to reveal the circular bruise on his left triceps. Then he pointed to his elbow, wrist, ankle, and chest. At the start of Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Farmer is level with 13.

“I’m leading the league in something, I think that’s a good thing,” said Farmer.

Since Farmer is struggling with “general sore muscles”, a result of the most consistent season of his career, he was excluded from the line-up in two games last week. Farmer started their first two games against the Brewers, but manager David Bell said Farmer may not start every game.

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“It’s a big series, I’m just a little sore,” said Farmer. “For the first time in my entire career, I’m playing in the major leagues every day and that is finally catching up with me. (Reds manager David Bell) does a good job of keeping me fresh, which is good. “

Before that season, Farmer had never had more than 200 record appearances or more than 35 starts in a year. In 2021, Farmer has already made 236 record appearances, and he’s made 65 starts.

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Farmer hasn’t been 100% in the past week, and he said the coaching staff had come up with a good plan to keep him fresh and on line as much as possible.

“Sometimes matchups come into play, who is pitching that day and whom I can meet well,” said Farmer. “We have a good bank and good guys. (Alejo) Lopez can play as a utility guy anywhere and we have Mike (Freeman) too. The all-star break is coming up, which will do us all good. We can rest and take it easy. “

LOREZEN LATER: Red’s reliever Michael Lorenzen is about to return from a right shoulder strain that has kept him out all season. But Bell said Lorenzen won’t be returning until the All-Star Break.

Lorenzen pitched a rehab assignment in Triple-A on Tuesday, and the plan is for Lorenzen to continue until the All-Star break in Louisville. He could return to the Reds on Friday July 16 to play their first game back.

“In the interests of Michael, our team, our entire season, we will probably leave him in Louisville over the break,” said Bell. “Do a couple of trips in a row so that when he returns next Friday there are no restrictions on how we would use it. If he was to come back on Saturday, we’d possibly swap an inning and give up the All-Star break days when he actually got to fully build himself up. I think we will all be better off there in the long run, including Michael. “

NO ROTATION YET: With Sonny Gray on the injured list, Bell said the Reds probably won’t have a solid schedule until later this week after the All-Star hiatus.

When the Reds return from break, they’ll have to make a decision with fifth on the grid. Jeff Hoffman is ready to return from his rehab assignment, and either Hoffman or rookie Vladimir Gutierrez will be the Reds’ fifth starter.

If Hoffman didn’t get that rotation spot, Bell said Hoffman would join the bullpen.

“We plan to activate it,” said Bell. “It doesn’t make sense to do this before the break, but I would assume he’ll be back right after the break. As for (his) role, no final decision has been made yet, but he’s the type that we want to have on our team as one of our 13 or 14 pitchers. We don’t have to find out until the weekend. “