Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Two words Cincinnati Reds fans have grown to abhor are these: “torn meniscus”. That’s what took Joey Votto out for an extended period of time during the 2012 season. It took the Reds first baseman some time to get back on track. A few may state that he still isn’t.
This from John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer won’t make the Reds fanbase feel any better. Fay tweets…
RHP Mat Latos had surgery to repair a tear in the meniscus of his left knee. Expected to return to his throwing program in ten days #reds
— John Fay (@johnfayman) February 14, 2014
In a follow-up tweet after being questioned by a Reds fan, Fay says that Latos suffered the injury while throwing off the mound either yesterday or the previous day.
Can only assume that the tear for Latos isn’t of the same grade as the one Votto suffered. During the offseason, Latos had surgery as well. This was to remove bone chips in his throwing elbow. Of course, some pointed to the now departed skipper Dusty Baker as the reason that procedure was performed, but they can’t in this instance. Dusty isn’t around, so who gets the finger pointed at him in this case?
If Latos can return in the ten days, all’s well. But if he can’t, oh boy…
This club needs the services of Mat Latos. With the continual injury bug biting Johnny Cueto (on the disabled list multiple times in 2013) and nipping at Tony Cingrani (a DL stint and was pulled from his last 2013 outing after 1.2 IP) , any period of time Latos could miss would deal a significant blow to the squad. Sure, might be putting the cart before the horse here. After all, it is only the onset of spring training.
And Latos is coming off a 2013 where he stepped up and proclaimed that he might be the ace of the Reds staff, not Cueto. In his 32 starts, Latos hurled 210.2 innings, posted a record 14-7, an ERA of 3.16, and a WHIP of 1.210. He adjusted to pitching a Great American Ball Park and lowered his HR/9 from 1.1 in 2012 to 0.6 last season.