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Jon Heyman reported earlier today that the Cincinnati Reds were contemplating calling up their top prospect Nick Senzel.

Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com tweeted this out about an hour later. He also confirmed via a source that the move is happening.

Last night saw Nick Senzel homer for the first time this season, and go 3-6 with 4 runs scored for the Louisville Bats. It was hit 6th game of the season in Triple-A for the Reds center field prospect after returning from an ankle injury that he suffered late in the spring after being sent down to minor league camp.

There are a lot of reasons that the organization would call up Nick Senzel. He’s ready to play in the Major Leagues and help the team win right now. His bat has been ready since this point last season. Defensively, he moved to the outfield last offseason. During the spring manager David Bell said he was the best defender the team had in center field. Yet when he was sent down the front office was sure to note that it was because of his lack of playing time in the outfield. Apparently a week was enough to figure it out.

While it seemed pretty obvious to many that Nick Senzel should have been the option in center out of the spring, the job went to Scott Schebler. He hit the cover off of the ball during his time in Goodyear, but he’s also hit .135 with a .516 OPS since the season began. If there’s another option available to play center, it’s probably time to start considering that option. And for the Reds, that is Senzel.

The bench is currently constructed of Curt Casali at catcher, Phillip Ervin, Derek Dietrich, and Kyle Farmer. Casali isn’t going anywhere. Neither is Dietrich. That means that the options could come down to either Phillip Ervin, who would be a potential 5th outfielder off of the bench, Kyle Farmer who can play a little bit of everywhere, or Scott Schebler to be sent down to Louisville to make room on the 25-man roster for Nick Senzel.

With regards to the 40-man roster move, that one seems a bit simpler. Both Alex Blandino and Scooter Gennett are still injured. The timetable on Blandino being ready hasn’t been stated much. For Gennett it seems that he will certainly be out until at least June. Sliding him to the 60-day disabled list opens up a 40-man spot until he’s ready to return, and gives the team a spot for Senzel without needing to designate anyone for assignment.

43 Responses

  1. SultanofSwaff

    Peraza–.524 OPS (1 stinking walk all season)
    Schebler—.516 OPS (14 walks)

    Peraza is arguably far more deserving to be sent down, especially when considering his swing % on pitches outside the zone paired with the non-existent walk totals.

    The Reds have two 60 day DL candidates so call up VanMeter while they’re at it. If this organization is as serious as they claim about culture change and staying in this race then they have to take a firmer stance on non-performance than they have in the past. It shouldn’t matter how many sets of tires they go through on the Louisville shuttle!

    • matthew hendley

      Agreed to Peraza being the more deserving of those two. But it will be either farmer or Ervin. Probably Ervin as Senzel is being slotted as a reliever. How long do broken ribs take to heal anyway, Kemp could be a candidate for the 60 day.

      • Steven Ross

        If anyone should be sent down its Schebler. Looks like his days are numbered either way.

      • matthew hendley

        Send down a decent glove who can take a walk, over a non player or a average glove poor bat….what will i choose. Anyway, I miss-typed above. I meant to say Ervin will Probably go down because Senzel is being slotted as an Outfielder

    • Bill Hedges

      ‘Bout time. I think the kid will rake.

  3. Wayne nabors

    I’ve seen em come and go, but I really believe this guy is as good a hitters as I’ve seen.should hit a lot of doubles and power will emerge as he gets more acclimated to mob pitching

  4. renbutler

    I’m tempted to go see him play with the Bats here in Indy on Thursday, if he’s in the lineup…

    • Matt WI

      I might give him a goodbye at-bat and then wrap him in bubblewrap until he gets to Cincy!

  5. Matt WI

    Could he split time spelling both Peraza and Schebler? Whatever to get his bat in there regularly while those to knuckleheads try to get right?

    • Matt WI

      I understand it’s a lot to ask a rookie. Just an idea.

    • SultanofSwaff

      I think that’s a good idea as well. Of course, Senzel is my SS yesterday if I were calling the shots.

      • lwblogger2

        I don’t think he’s a SS. He played there some in college but when the team’s regular SS returned from injury, they moved Senzel back to 3B. He wasn’t the best defensive SS on his NCAA team. Then there is the fact that the Reds’ braintrust has stated that they don’t think he has the defensive chops to be an every day SS in MLB. They’ve seen him work at the position way more than any of us have. Barry Larkin was working with him and I didn’t hear him speaking out saying that Senzel could do it. I’m willing to bet that the HoF SS is part of the evaluation team that feels that Senzel just isn’t cut out for the position every day in MLB.

        There are a million things that I don’t agree with the Reds on but I trust their judgement in they feel that Senzel isn’t an MLB SS. Could do it in a pinch or here or there but not as a regular.

  6. jreis

    man once Scooter comes back we will have a tough line up.
    1. senzel
    2. votto
    3. winker
    4. suarez
    5. scooter
    6. puig
    7. cassali/barnhart
    8. Iglesias/Peraza

    then next year add Trammel To the mix. starting to get excited!

    • greenmtred

      Looks pretty good on paper, but it would be nice to see that translate to actual games.

      • ToBeDetermined

        green

        Exactly, the lineup that they put out there most nights has looked pretty good on paper based on our expectations coming into this year. But, so far to little avail.

      • matthew hendley

        He says late May. Could happen, realistically June

    • burtgummer

      While adding Trammell you need to subtract Puig and Scooter as they both will be playing elsewhere

      • matthew hendley

        onyl if the FO is made up of idiots

      • burtgummer

        Unfortunately they are all idiots

  7. Wayne nabors

    Jreis you have casali listed 1st which I only wish were true,but he just doesn’t get much playing time,probably should start in my opinion

  8. WVRedlegs

    Good news. A week and a half earlier than was rumored.
    It would be a nice time to infuse a little more youth into the 25 man roster at the same time. Bring up Reed for Duke and Vanmeter for Schebler on Friday too. The roster needs a little jolt of electricity.

    • RichS

      Agreed. Schebler and Duke are a drain.

    • matthew hendley

      They will not DFA Schebler. Any 60 Day IL will be reversed when the player is healthy and Wood is Probably not getting one. It is unbelievable how everyone is falling all over a small sample size on an otherwise unremarkable player. Duke needs to go though

      • WVRedlegs

        Schebler has at least 1 option left. They won’t have to DFA him, just option him. He can regain his stroke at AAA better than on the Reds bench.
        Not sure which player you are referencing about as an unremarkable player.

      • matthew hendley

        Vanmeter who minus one month, is extremely under the radar

      • Curt

        Where did VanMeter come from? I noticed his name in games all the way until the very end of ST. Was thinking it was odd he hadn’t been reassigned. They must be high on this guy and he’s playing well in Louisville.

  9. Roger Garrett

    I like it WVRedlegs.Might as well shuffle the deck some and lets see what happens.

  10. Scott C

    I know this is probably not the popular idea around here but really, it is Ervin that needs to be sent down simply for the make up of the bench. If Schebler gets sent down then our bench consists of Casalli, Farmer, Ervin and one of Dietrich, Perazaor Iglesias. That means the only LH bat we have on the bench is Derek and we would not have that when he starts.
    Ervin needs to play and he is not going to play much when Senzel gets here. (He’s not playing much now). Schebler can hit he has shown that in the past,. He has also shown in the past that he can come off the bench. And presently he has shown some plate discipline. That needs to be the choice.
    Farmer has greater versatility so I think he stays up until Scooter comes back hopefully in a month or so. The fly in the ointment is Kemp. what oh what do we do with him. I know I have my idea.

    • Armo21

      Agree on Ervin being sent down. Also think via assist from Redlegs board that it will be Wood who goes to the 60 day IL. It was reported yesterday that he was seeking second opinion on his back problem.

  11. Redgoggles

    So, this means Schebler is about to go on a 3 game tear. Win-win!

    • ToBeDetermined

      I saw that double that Schebler hit the other day. Man, was that a terrible, tentative swing, but he got lucky.

      I’d like to see Schebler sent down not as punishment but rather regain his swing and his confidence. I don’t believe he is a bad hitter.

  12. Chris Holbert

    This looks good. Peraza,Winker, Suarez, Votto, Puig, Senzel, Casali/TB ( yes Casali first),Iggy. Schebler, DD, Ervin and Farmer off the bench. When Kemp retuns DFA and move on from that. Scooter’s return causes a bigger issue for starters and the bench. Things are looking up. Just hope the pitching holds until then.

  13. ToBeDetermined

    So, if Senzel is coming up Friday. Could one of you guys who know the rules, Doug, Steve etc. tell us if the Reds get an extra year of control or what. I hadn’t seen it discussed lately.

    thanks in advance.

    • WVRedlegs

      Yes they are safe with the extra year. But Senzel probably reaches super-2 status if he doesn’t sign a long term deal before 2021 season is over. Or get sent back down which isn’t expected by anyone.

    • Steve Mancuso

      There has been enough delay for Senzel to not use up one of the six years of team control this season. So he’ll be with the Reds through 2025 no matter what now. That’s the most important part of service time considerations for fans (and the team). If Senzel is called up on Friday or soon, he’ll probably qualify for Super Two status which means he’ll be eligible for arbitration in 2022 instead of being paid the league minimum that year. This assumes these arrangements aren’t superseded by a new collective bargaining agreement or a negotiated contract extension between Senzel and the Reds.

      In any event, Senzel is likely on his way to $100 million plus in earnings from playing baseball.

  14. wizeman

    how expensive is a plane ticket to new york?

    • Colorado Red

      Won’t be up until Friday, which means, how pricey is a ticket from Colorado Springs to Cincinnati?

      • matthew hendley

        I used to make that trip out of Carson, it was 5 or 6 hundred if memory serves

  15. JayTheRed

    Just curious and this is not making fun of anyone but we have the 10 day Injured list. “IL”

    Is the 60 day still called disabled list? just curious on that. Like I said not trying to make fun of anyone or be mean. I actually want to know the answer to this.