CINCINNATI -- Left fielder Austin Hays is showing improvement with his strained left calf, but the Reds will be without their cleanup hitter a little longer than the original projection.
¡°It¡¯s not necessarily fair to him to put a timetable, but I think the goal is when we come back from San Francisco. I think that¡¯s probably fair, but we¡¯ll see how he¡¯s doing," manager Terry Francona said on Sunday morning.
Hays is eligible for activation from the 10-day injured list on April 3. The Reds return home from their first road trip to Milwaukee and San Francisco on April 11 vs. the Pirates.
So far, Hays has been doing strengthening exercises only.
"The last couple of days, it¡¯s been feeling a lot better walking around," Hays said. "I think we¡¯re getting pretty close to throwing, hitting, getting out on the field over these next few days probably.¡±
Hays, who was signed to a one-year, $5 million contract on Jan. 29, didn't know how he was injured. He last played on March 23 in the final Spring Training game in Arizona.
"I felt fine after the game. I woke up the next day, it was kind of sore," he said. "I felt a little more than the normal calf soreness. We had the off-day, and when I woke up the next day, it was really tight and a lot more sore. That¡¯s where I was a little more concerned like, ¡®All right, this feels a little more than soreness.¡¯"
The Reds sent Hays for an MRI, which revealed the strain. Last season with the Orioles, he was out from April 21 to May 13 with the same injury.
That experience informed how Hays approached it this time, and he told the club right away something was off.
¡°I felt similar symptoms early on, and I tried to play through it. I ended up turning it into a Grade 2, and I missed a more significant amount of time," Hays said. "I think we made the right decision to MRI it and find the strain and shut it down immediately so that my body can just heal and get back on the field quick.¡±
Hays endured multiple injuries, including a kidney infection, in 2024 during a down season with Baltimore and Philadelphia. But he looked very good during spring for Cincinnati and batted .310 with a 1.060 OPS, three home runs and 14 RBIs in 16 games.
Without Hays, the Reds have used Gavin Lux as the primary left fielder. Lux was originally slated to be at third base to begin the season.