After the Cincinnati Reds optioned starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft to Triple-A on Monday, he met with a doctor to evaluate elbow tightness that he had been dealing with. Ashcraft learned he had an elbow strain.

On Wednesday, the Reds reverted Ashcraft's option and placed him on the big league injured list.

“He had some tightness," Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said. "He didn’t really complain too much about it but it seemed to come up over the last week or so.”

The transaction makes it so Ashcraft never got optioned to Triple-A and has instead been on the injured list since July 8.

Krall said Ashcraft will get a PRP injection and won't throw for at least the next two weeks. There isn't a timeline yet for Ashcraft's return.

Before Ashcraft went on the injured list, he had been beaten out for the No. 5 starter by Carson Spiers. The Reds' currently have Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Frankie Montas and Spiers in the rotation.

The Ashcraft injury provides another blow to their starting pitching depth. Starter Brandon Williamson (shoulder) is out until at least September and prospect Connor Phillips had terrible results in Triple-A before getting reassigned to rookie ball as a chance to reset.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Graham Ashcraft injury update Reds move to MLB injured list