GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) - Skip Schumaker dislocated his left shoulder and will miss about a month.
Schumaker left the game between the Reds and Royals on Friday after making a diving attempt to cut off a line drive hit by Angel Franco in the left centerfield gap in the seventh inning.
Schumaker’s glove jammed into the hard ground on the Arizona field. The injury is similar to the injury Ryan Ludwick sustained on opening day last year when his hand jammed into the ground at Great American Ball Park while sliding into third base.
“It was good news actually,” Schumaker said. “It is not like Ryan Ludwick. I don’t need surgery which would be eight weeks of rehab. Paul (head trainer Lessard) popped it back in.”
The veteran utility player signed a two-year contract with the Reds on November 26. He is expected to provide backup at second base and the outfield.
“It was a clean separation. It could have been worse,” first-year manager Bryan Price said.
Schumaker, 34, was hitting .441 this spring with a home run and seven RBI.
The injury to Schumaker is the latest to complicate the Reds’ roster.
Third baseman Jack Hannahan, the backup for Todd Frazier, has yet to appear in the field. He had surgery on his rotator cuff immediately after last season.
Non-roster outfielders Roger Bernadina has played all of the outfield positions and is hitting very well, .419 with two home runs and six RBIs. Jason Bourgeois is listed as an outfielder but can play infield.
“We will start playing Bourgeois at second base,” Price said. “(Kristopher) Negron and Chris Nelson have had nice camps.”
Negron and Nelson are non-roster outfielders.
The Reds’ pitching staff has been wracked by injuries.
Mat Latos will not be ready for the start of the season, according to Price.
“We had a time frame for Mat. If he reached a certain level by a certain date, he could start on that game April 5. That opportunity has come and gone,” Price said.
It is unlikely backup closer Jonathan Broxton will be ready, either. He needs to progress to throwing consecutive days. Left-hander Sean Marshall is working through a sore shoulder. He missed much of last season with various injuries.
Starting pitchers Johnny Cueto (shoulder) and Homer Bailey (groin) have had very minor injuries and should be ready to make their first starts.
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