The Cincinnati Reds placed right-handed reliever Graham Ashcraft on the 60-day injured list on Friday with a UCL sprain in his right forearm.

Ashcraft, 28, last pitched on Monday, striking out two batters and allowing no hits or runs in the ninth inning in a 7-2 road win against the New York Mets.

Moving directly to the 60-day IL is a worrying sign for Ashcraft’s long-term prognosis, potentially indicating the need for surgery.

“It’s a punch in the gut,” Ashcraft told reporters before Friday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. “Everybody on this team has a huge role. It just seems like we’re getting unlucky with guys going down right now. It’s just kind of part of the game, part of what we do, part of our careers. You can’t really do anything about it but just take it day by day and just get yourself better at the end of it.”

Ashcraft felt stiffness and tightness in his arm on Tuesday and the club diagnosed the UCL sprain. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection the same day.

Ashcraft said he will get a second opinion and wants to avoid Tommy John surgery.

“Missing 2 1/2 months is a lot better than missing a year-and-a-half,” Ashcraft said of the injection.

The right-hander is 1-1 with one save and a 3.33 ERA in 26 appearances out of the Cincinnati bullpen this season. Ashcraft is 26-26 with a 4.67 ERA in 148 games (60 starts) since making his debut with the Reds in 2022.

The Reds selected the contract of right-hander Yunior Marte from Triple-A Louisville in a corresponding move. He is 2-0 with five saves and a 5.12 ERA in 20 games (no starts) this season at Louisville.

Marte, 31, last pitched in the majors in 2024 with Philadelphia. He is 2-2 with two saves and a 5.64 ERA in 102 career games (no starts) with the San Francisco Giants (2022) and Phillies (2023-24).

–Field Level Media