Injured Cozart ‘progressing,’ but still out,
SS not likely to play in final two games of Reds’ homestand.
Fans attending CINCINNATI — either of the Reds’ last two games of the current home stand shouldn’t expect to see Zack Cozart manning his usual shortstop position.
Cozart did not play in Monday’s four-game series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was the fifth consecutive game he’s missed while dealing with soreness in his left oatellar and Achilles tendons, the latter so persistent that he was forced to wear a boot to immobilize the area.
“He is making progress,” manager Bryan Price said before Monday’s game. “I don’t know how close he is to being ready to play. He’s pretty much inside getting treatment around the clock when he’s here. When he gets out on the field, I’ll have a better idea how close he is, but you can safely assume that it will be at least another 48 hours before we see him on the field.”
Cozart, named by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association as this year’s Reds Heart and Hustle Award winner, is a serious contender for the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award. He opened the season with a 10-game hitting streak and was hitting .263 and already tied his single-season career high with 15 home runs when his tendons started acting up. He remains available for pinch-hitting duties, but he hasn’t been needed. Opportunity knocking: The upside of Cozart’s injury is it’s allowing the Reds to get an extended look at middle-infield prospect Jose Peraza, who was recalled Saturday from Triple-A Louisville and has started the last three games at shortstop. He went 3 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs on Saturday and followed up by going 2 for 4 on Sunday.
He stayed hot on Monday, going 4 for 6 and scoring three runs while boosting his batting average to .301.
The highly regarded 22-year-old prospect, acquired from the Dodgers as part of the three-team trade that sent third baseman Todd Frazier to the White Sox, figures to get regular starts while Cozart is sidelined. Keeping him on the field had been one of Price’s biggest headaches in Peraza’s first two stints with the Reds this season, and the manager hoped to find enough playing time for Peraza.
“That’s something that’s not always in my hands,” Price said. “It comes down to how much he’s going to play here. We’ve got those (designated-hitter) games coming up in Anaheim, so that will be helpful. I think it’s realistic to say that he’s going to be here the rest of the year.”
Up next: Interleague play returns to Great American Ball Park today when the American League West Division-leading Texas Rangers show up for a two-game series, both scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. Righthander Dan Straily (9-6), who leads the Reds in wins, is Cincinnati’s scheduled starter tonight. Since the All-Star break, Straily is 5-0 with a 2.25 earned-run average in seven starts.