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Associated Press 10y

Reds demote Cingrani, Marshall set for surgery

MLB, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays

CINCINNATI -- Left-handed reliever Sean Marshall will have surgery on his left shoulder, which has bothered him for the last two seasons and repeatedly landed him on the disabled list.

The Reds won't know how long he'll be sidelined until doctors operate on the shoulder next Tuesday, manager Bryan Price said.

Cincinnati's set-up man was on the disabled list twice last season with shoulder problems. He opened this season on the DL with a sore shoulder and was activated on April 19. He went on the 15-day disabled list last Saturday with more soreness. The Reds moved him to the 60-day DL on Friday.

"There are some issues in there that aren't going to get better through strengthening and stretching and inflammatory work," Price said. "He needs surgery to get those things corrected. Once he has the surgery, we'll have a better idea about a course of action and how long it will take before we can expect to see him again."

The Reds also optioned left-hander Tony Cingrani to Triple-A Louisville on Friday and called up right-hander Jumbo Diaz before the start of their interleague series against the Toronto Blue jays.

Cingrani is 2-8 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts and two relief appearances. He lost his spot in the rotation when Mat Latos returned from the disabled list and wasn't sharp in his two relief appearances. The left-hander has struggled since his stint on the disabled list because of a sore shoulder earlier this season.

The Reds are planning to use Cingrani out of the bullpen once he gets back in form.

"With a healthy starting five, that's where Tony can help us best this year," Price said. "We've seen him pitch very efficiently at times out of the bullpen."

Right-handed reliever Jumbo Diaz was called up to take Cingrani's spot. It will be his major league debut following 12 seasons and 340 appearances in the minors. The 30-year-old pitcher got up to 340 pounds last season, but reported to spring training at 278 pounds. He was the closer at Louisville hoping to finally get a promotion.

"Sometimes, you have some thoughts (about quitting)," Diaz said. "You wake up and you're like, `I'm working hard every day and I don't get the call,' but you have to fight it because you never know when the call is going to come. I said, `If I keep working hard every day and playing hard every day, someday I'm going to get the call."

Teammates congratulated him on his long-awaited promotion when he walked into the clubhouse on Friday.

"I was so excited," Diaz said. "I stopped and looked around and said, `Oh, my God. This is what I've been waiting for for a long time."

Also on Friday, the Reds transferred right-hander Trevor Bell to the 60-day disabled list and reinstated right-hander Brett Marshall from the 60-day DL and optioned him to Louisville.

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