The Cincinnati Reds are thin at catcher after placing Curt Casali on the 10-day injured list and Kyle Farmer on the seven-day concussion list on Thursday.
Casali sprained his right knee during the Monday game against the Chicago Cubs, and he could miss a month of action, according to Reds manager David Bell. Farmer took two foul balls off the mask during Cincinnati’s Tuesday game against the Cubs.
Starting catcher Tucker Barnhart (.191, five homers, 61 games) last played on June 22 and is on the IL due to a right oblique injury. Casali is batting .253 with six homers in 62 games and Farmer is hitting .237 with six homers in 68 contests.
Cincinnati signed journeyman Ryan Lavarnway on Thursday one day after promoting Juan Graterol from Triple-A Louisville. Graterol started Wednesday’s game against the Cubs and was also in the lineup for Thursday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Lavarnway was released by the New York Yankees earlier Thursday. He batted .213 with three homers and 19 RBIs in 35 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 31-year-old veteran hasn’t appeared in any major league games this season.
Overall, Lavarnway has a .208 batting average with seven homers and 43 RBIs with the Boston Red Sox (2011-14), Baltimore Orioles (2015), Atlanta Braves (2015), Oakland Athletics (2017) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2018).
Cincinnati also placed right-hander David Hernandez (shoulder) on the 10-day IL, recalled utility man Josh Van Meter and right-hander Lucas Sims from Louisville and designated right-hander Jesus Reyes for assignment.
Hernandez is 2-5 with one save and a 6.92 ERA in 43 relief appearances.
VanMeter hit .222 in 30 games with the Reds earlier this year. Sims gave up four runs and six hits over 7 1/3 innings while beating the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 29 in his lone big-league appearance of the season. Reyes was 0-4 with a 5.66 ERA in 36 appearances for Louisville this year.