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It couldn’t have been an easy decision to make because the Reds (16-14) entered Sunday tied for first place in the National League Central Division with the Chicago Cubs (16-14). However, the plan to rest Garrett, if needed, has been in place all along.
“Amir knows he’ll be back,” said Reds manager Bryan Price before the final game of a three-game series against the Giants. “We’ve tried to prepare all of our young guys for this when we left Goodyear (Ariz.). I’m sure he’s not happy about it, but it will be part of the process for these guys.”
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The Reds have an off day Wednesday and another on May 15, giving them the option of using a four-man starting rotation until later this month. They called up reliever Barrett Astin from Louisville to take Garrett’s spot.
“We won’t need a fifth starter,” Price said. “That’s what made this attractive. It’s innings management, first and foremost, and being able to make sure (Garrett is) able to pitch the entire month of September as a starter, and not go, ‘Oh he’s at 165 innings on Sept. 1, so we’ll pitch him as a reliever the rest of the year.’ We don’t want to do that. We don’t have to put a magic number on how many innings, but we’re not going to take him from 145 innings to 200 or 210 or something like that.”
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