The Cincinnati Reds' sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend was near-ideal for , but after news of a surprise Joey Votto injury and subsequent knee surgery spread Monday, things in the Reds camp had to get a little less ebullient. The tear to his meniscus should cost Votto a month, and in the National League Central that could be a tough loss to withstand. One plus side: It temporarily pauses the Todd Frazier/Scott Rolen controversy.
↵Todd Frazier, their longtime third base prospect, has broken through in a big way during his age-26 season, hitting .279/.348/.568 in 62 games with the major league club. Unfortunately, the Reds haven't had a place to put him--Scott Rolen, despite hitting just .197/.260/.314 in 2012, has gotten plenty of playing time at third.
↵Now, a respite to the calls to put Rolen down: Dusty Baker will have a month to play them both at the same time, and that month could determine what happens at third when Votto returns. If Rolen hits, or Frazier cools off, the status quo remains; if the opposite happens, we'll have four weeks of hitting to point to when Rolen is Wally Pipped.
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