Cincinnati Reds Place Dane Myers on IL After Violent Wall Crash

Cincinnati Reds center fielder Dane Myers was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a left shoulder contusion, one day after crashing into the outfield wall at full speed during Monday night's 5-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

The 30-year-old sprinted toward the wall in the fourth inning to make a running backhanded catch on a liner off the bat of Andrew Vaughn, but he could not slow down in time and slammed shoulder-first into the padding at American Family Field.

Myers went down right away and stayed on the warning track in clear pain before being carted off the field while holding his left shoulder, with fans in the stadium giving him a standing ovation as he left.

Reds manager Terry Francona praised the effort after the game but made it clear the injury was serious.

"That was an amazing catch," Francona said. "He's fearless going into the wall, and probably like nobody I've ever seen."

Francona said that X-rays at the ballpark came back negative but added that the team sent Myers to a local hospital because the pain was not going away.

The official diagnosis came back as a left shoulder contusion, and Cincinnati placed him on the injured list the next morning.

As part of the same roster moves, the Reds called up infielder and outfielder Ivan Johnson from Triple-A Louisville, activated closer Emilio Pagan from the 15-day injured list, and optioned right-hander Zach McCambley.

Before the injury, Myers had quietly been one of the most steady players on a team that has dealt with injuries all season long.

In 63 games, he was hitting .256 with a .743 OPS and three home runs in his first year with the Reds after spending the previous three seasons with the Miami Marlins.

He earned the starting center field job over TJ Friedl, who struggled and was sent to Triple-A earlier in June, and his defense has been just as important thanks to his 97th-percentile arm strength.

Losing him only makes a bad situation worse for a team that cannot seem to stay healthy.

The Reds sit at 39-44 and remain in last place in the NL Central, 12.5 games behind the first-place Brewers, and the injuries just keep coming.

Blake Dunn recently went to the injured list with a right elbow sprain, Eugenio Suarez is dealing with a hand issue after being hit by a pitch on Sunday, and Ke'Bryan Hayes, Graham Ashcraft, and Brandon Williamson have all been on the shelf since May.

Hunter Greene has not pitched all season with an elbow injury.

Without Myers in center, Cincinnati will lean on Friedl, JJ Bleday, Noelvi Marte, and Spencer Steer to cover the outfield.

The trade deadline is not far away, and as the losses keep piling up, the conversation around whether this team will sell is getting louder by the day.