Jesse Winker frustrated to end season with injury: 'It's getting old for me as well'

PITTSBURGH – When the Cincinnati Reds saw their postseason hopes fading during September, Jesse Winker cut short his rehab assignment from an intercostal strain to try to ignite the team.

Winker lasted four plate appearances before he reaggravated the injury on a swing. The injury ended his season, playing in only one game after Aug. 15.

He doesn’t regret trying to rush back from the Injured List. He wanted to help the team. But it was a disappointing end to an incredible season where he was selected as an All-Star Game starter and proved he was one of the best hitters in the National League.

“Obviously finishing on the IL, personally isn't how I wanted this to go,” Winker said, “and then not being able to really play down the stretch was not fun at all. Honestly, the season ended, personally, the exact way I never wanted it to end. So, I don't really know how to describe that besides that.”

As much pride as Winker takes in his transformation as a player at the big-league level, becoming an everyday starter in left field and showcasing the power in his swing, injuries have been an unfortunate theme.

He hasn’t played more than 113 games in a season. A shoulder subluxation ended his 2018 season. He had a neck strain in 2019. He was healthy throughout the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but this was another season where he ended on the IL.

“It's frustrating, man,” Winker said before the final game of the season. “It sucked, to be honest with you. It is what it is at this point. It's been, what, six weeks? It is what it is. We're just going to put our foot forward and we're going to do whatever we can to prevent injuries.

“It seems like this is something that I always have to talk about is injuries in my career. I would really, really … I’m just going to go all in on whatever I can do to prevent anything going forward. It's getting old for me as well being hurt all the damn time. It's something that I definitely want to do my part in figuring out and developing a better routine.”

Winker was confident in the offseason plans laid out by the training staff to improve his health. At the time of his injury, he was leading the NL in doubles (32) and total bases (235) while ranking in the top five in batting average (.307).

“He has gotten better in every area of the game,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Sometimes, you can’t avoid injuries; nothing you can do about it. At least doing everything he can in his power. I’ve really seen Jesse grow in all those areas. He’s really committed to being healthy, being in the best shape he can be in, as fast as he can be, quick as he can be, strong, continuing what he has been doing the last couple offseasons. It’s worked.”

The Reds didn’t have the same offensive punch with Winker injured in the final six weeks of the season, finishing seven games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild-card race. Milwaukee Brewers starter Corbin Burnes, a Cy Young candidate, said in August, “I don’t think people realize what he had done for his lineup, just his presence with the other left-handed bats.”

Winker, at the time of his injury in August, had a .327 batting average and .433 on-base percentage in his first 27 games after the All-Star break with 15 doubles, five homers, 21 RBI and 19 runs. He helped carry the lineup with Joey Votto when Nick Castellanos was on the 10-day IL after he was hit by a pitch on his wrist.

When Winker was asked about the biggest takeaways from his own breakout season before the team’s final game, he shook his head.

“No, because it's incomplete,” Winker said. “I'll be proud of a season when, personally, I'm on the field in the last regular-season game and I'll be more proud of it if we're holding up a trophy at the end of it. Until we do that, no, I just feel like I'm trending in the direction I've always believed I'm going in.

“It's definitely an incomplete season if I'm ending on the IL and, as a team, we're not in the playoffs. I wouldn't say there's anything memorable from it. This injury and everything how it finished, it's leaving a bad taste, personally. I can't really get past that right now.”