Candelario has been battling his back injury for a few weeks while playing sporadically. The Reds will now shut him down for a couple of weeks at least to see if that helps him heal up. Spencer Steer should continue to start regularly at first base with Noelvi Marte at third base. Gavin Lux and Austin Hays will mix in at DH in the immediate future as well.

Candelario has played sparingly over the past few weeks and it appears a lingering lower back issue is part of the reason. The 31-year-old could potentially require an injured list stint to put the lingering issue to bed. There should be an update on his status at some point in the coming days.

The Reds probably can’t release Candelario when he’s not even halfway through his three-year, $45 million contract, but he was bad last year and he’s been considerably worse while opening this season 9-for-80 with 29 strikeouts. He might lose even more playing time when Tyler Stephenson is activated, since Stephenson will likely DH at least once or twice per week.

Scoring 22 runs on Sunday has caused the Reds to run mostly the same lineup back out there tonight, though Jose Trevino is playing over six-hit superstar Austin Wynns. Spencer Steer’s return to the field after being limited to DH duties for three weeks has given the Reds some extra flexibility, and Candelario could be in danger of truly falling out of the mix if Marte continues to impress.