Spencer Steer's Wrist Injury Wrecks Reds' Trade Deadline Plans

The Cincinnati Reds are officially putting Spencer Steer on ice, and according to MLB Trade Rumors, he is unlikely to see the field again in 2026.

Steer tore the sheath in his right wrist during an awkward swing against St. Louis Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy on Sunday. He tried to tough it out for another at-bat, which is the baseball equivalent of ignoring a check-engine light until your transmission falls out on the highway. By the fifth inning, he was shaking his hand after a foul ball and getting escorted off the field by manager Terry Francona.

"MLB Trade Rumors reported Steer is 'Unlikely To Play Again In 2026'."

Before his wrist decided to clock out early, Steer was putting up a respectable .238 average with 16 home runs and a .739 OPS over 98 games. He is a versatile piece who can bounce between the infield and the outfield, which made him a highly intriguing name as the trade deadline approached.

That is the real gut punch here. Steer was widely viewed as a prime trade candidate who could have brought Cincinnati a decent return. Instead, this injury completely yanks him off the market, leaving the Reds holding a broken asset while contending teams look elsewhere for right-handed pop.

If you were holding any season-long player props on Steer clearing 25 homers, those tickets are essentially decorative bookmarks now. His absence also forces oddsmakers to slightly downgrade a Cincinnati lineup that just lost one of its most reliable everyday bats.

The current plan is to keep Steer in a splint for two weeks and pray the partial tear heals on its own. If the rest does not work, he is headed for season-ending surgery. Either way, the Reds have to navigate the rest of the summer without him, and the trade deadline just got a little less interesting.