Reds’ Gennett to miss 8-12 weeks

GOODYEAR, ARIZ. — Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett will miss 8-12 weeks with a strained right groin.

Gennett injured his groin making a play on a ground ball hit by Yasmani Grandal against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.

“He is in a lot of pain,” said David Bell, who was with Gennett when the medical staff read his MRI . “He wants to play so bad. That makes it tough but he’s already thinking positive. He is determined to get back on the field as soon as possible.”

With two games to go before breaking camp in Goodyear and five days before the opener on March 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Reds had to scramble to compensate for the loss.

Jose Peraza will move from shortstop to second base and non-roster invitee Jose Iglesias will be the starting shortstop.

“Peraza will continue to play some shortstop,” Bell said. “He was making improvements every day at shortstop. He wanted to do what’s best for the team. We still see him as a shortstop. There were concerns about moving him back to second because he worked so hard at shortstop. But the willingness of him to move, made it an easy conversation.”

An All-Star last year, Gennett is coming off the two best seasons of his career. Last season he batted .310 with 23 home runs and 93 RBIs. In 2017 he cracked 27 homers, had 97 RBIs and hit .295.

The Reds will probably place Gennett on the 60-day disabled list or injury list, which will open a needed spot on the 40-man roster for Iglesias, who signed a minor league contract on Feb. 23 and was invited to camp as a non-roster player.