Reds reinstate OF Austin Hays from IL, place OF Jake Fraley on IL

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds reinstated outfielder Austin Hays from 10-day injured list on Friday and placed outfielder Jake Fraley on the 10-day IL with a right shoulder sprain, retroactive to June 24.

Hays was batting .303 with six home runs and 25 RBIs in 119 at-bats before being placed on the IL with a left foot contusion after fouling a pitch off his foot in a 3-2 loss at Kansas City on May 28.

“We’ve missed him,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “He’s still a presence. It will lengthen our lineup. We’re getting a leader back.”

While Hays’ return adds an important piece to the Reds’ lineup, they will be without Fraley, their regular right fielder, for an undetermined amount of time.

Fraley, who’s batting .224 with five homers and 17 RBIs in 47 games, hasn’t played since Monday’s series-opener against the Yankees.

“He said it’s hurting,” Francona said of Fraley’s shoulder. “If he’s going to play, it’s not going to work if he’s worried about it. We’ll see what the best way to approach it is.”

Cincinnati, which took two of three from the first-place Yankees earlier this week, began the day 2 1/2 games out of the third NL wild spot.

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