CINCINNATI -- When the Reds placed third baseman Mike Moustakas on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday, the move came less than an hour before they played the D-backs. Up to that point, Moustakas was tentatively in the starting lineup even though manager David Bell wasn’t overly optimistic about his player’s health.

Moustakas, 32, has been dealing with a non-COVID-related illness since Friday.

“He’s just not recovering from this illness that he has,” Bell said on Wednesday. “I think the best way to describe it is a viral illness that is probably a matter of days before he’s back, at least working out.”

The IL stint is retroactive to Saturday, which means Moustakas would be eligible to return next Tuesday when the Reds are in Los Angeles.

Cincinnati was already a man down on its roster with right fielder Nick Castellanos sitting out with a two-game suspension on Tuesday and Wednesday. The medical team determined that Moustakas wasn’t likely coming back before next week.

“So, it was just a decision we had to make, and hopefully he just keeps improving,” Bell said. “He went to the doctor today and it kind of eased his mind and we have a much better idea of what it is. He’s going to get over it in the next couple few days, and then we’ll kind of get him back feeling good, having good hard workouts, have him ready to go on Tuesday.”

Garrett off to slow start
In the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game vs. Arizona, Reds lefty reliever Amir Garrett endured another messy appearance. In a 4-4 game, Garrett replaced Tejay Antone and walked his first batter, Pavin Smith, followed by a Kole Calhoun double. Garrett got a Asdrúbal Cabrera lineout thanks to a nice play by shortstop Eugenio Suárez before Lucas Sims took over.

Garrett has a 12.46 ERA in his five appearances this season with six earned runs, eight hits, five walks and two homers allowed in only 4 1/3 innings. Right-handed batters are especially doing damage while batting .455 (5-for-11) but lefties are also faring well at 3-for-8 (.375) with three walks.

On Saturday vs. Cleveland, Garrett was in trouble with runners on the corners and no outs in the eighth inning when Joey Votto helped turn a triple play.

Bell pointed to Garrett missing much of Spring Training with a left forearm strain as one reason for his early struggles, even though Garrett retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced in four games without allowing a hit.

“If you look at his Spring Training, and you look at really inconsistent workload that he’s had up to this point, it’s not really a surprise that he’s not sharp,” Bell said. “If anything, I want to create more opportunities for him to pitch, just so he could get back into the flow of it.

“He was ready for the season’s start, just because he’s more of a one-plus-inning guy. But when you have a short Spring Training, at some point, it does catch up to you, no matter how good you are. It’s just something that he’s going to have to pitch through. And I think the more work we can get him, the better right now. I would imagine we’ll start playing a bunch of close games like we’re used to doing, but the way the games have gone to this point, there hasn’t been kind of the ideal spots for Amir like there usually is. But I’m sure they’ll just start happening, and if not, we’ll create more of those spots for him, so he can get back to where he needs to be.”

Former Reds hitting coach dies
Former Major League player and coach Tom Robson died on Tuesday at Arizona. Robson, who was the Reds’ hitting coach under manager Bob Boone in 2003, was 75 years old. Among family members of Robson is Moustakas, who is his nephew.