Reds put Homer Bailey on disabled list

One of the keys for the Reds turning things around this year was staying healthy.

So far, not so good.

The Reds placed right-hander Homer Bailey on the disabled list with a right elbow ligament sprain.

The injury sounds serious.

"It's messy and unbelievably unfortunate both for him as an individual and for our ball club because he's a big piece to what we do," Reds manager Bryan Price said.

Bailey left without speaking to reporters.

The Reds haven't decided how it will be treated. Surgery likely would be season-ending.

"How we're going to go about dealing with it is something that will evolve over the next few days," Price said. "At this point, it looks like there are options. I think we have to continue to get our group together and see what the best option is for Homer and our ballclub to make sure his long-term health isn't compromised."

"He certainly won't be pitching here in the near future."

Bailey played catch Sunday and was scheduled to throw a bullpen Monday. Price said it was not one pitch.

"It was not any single incident," Price said. "It was a matter of him having some soreness and us taking a look at it and finding some things going on in there that we'll have to take a look at."

The Reds called up right-hander Carlos Contreras from Triple-A Louisville.

Bailey was to start Thursday's series opener in Atlanta. The Reds haven't decided who will pitch instead.

"Not yet," Price said. "There are certain things we have to look at. Right now, we don't have a roster spot. We have to create a roster spot No. 1. No. 2, we have to figure who is best guy for that and who is ready to pitch."

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias are likely candidates.

Bailey had elbow surgery to repair a flexor mass strain in September. He started the season on the DL. He's made two starts.

He went 5 2/3 innings in each. He allowed two runs on seven hits in his last outing, a 4-2 loss to Milwaukee on Thursday.

Bailey had some stiffness and soreness after the starts.

"That's typical of someone coming off surgery or even some healthy," Price said. "We didn't anticipate it would eventually lead to problems that would shut him down. We were just doing due diligence. He felt pretty good. We were all amazed his elbow had this kind of problem."

Contreras, 24, was 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA in six games and 8 1/3 innings for the Bats. He went 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA in 17 games with the Reds last year.

Bailey, 28, was limited to 23 starts last year. He went on the disabled list Aug. 7 after injuring himself swinging the bat in a 4-0 victory over Cleveland.