Reds' Christian Encarnacion-Strand: Likely to return Friday

Encarnacion-Strand (hand) and teammate Tyler Stephenson are expected to return Friday when the Reds host the Orioles, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The Reds' bats went quiet on their 2-4 road trip against the Rangers and Padres, hitting .201 as a team while averaging 10 strikeouts per game on the trip. Of course, Encarnacion-Strand has been struggling this year in both aspects, hitting .196 with a troubling 3:31 BB:K ratio in 108 plate appearances. Perhaps with better health and better weather he will come close to displaying the form he showed in 2023, when he hit .270/.328/.477 in 241 plate appearances at the big-league level.