Nick Senzel will reportedly start seeing time at second base in spring training. Cincinnati Reds General Manager Dick Williams was on the Hot Stove Report on 700 WLW this evening and was asked about the situation. Williams noted that he will be exposed to the position during spring training. For Senzel, it won’t be a new experience, just one he’s been away from for a few years.
During his freshman and sophomore seasons at Tennessee, Nick Senzel played second base. With the Volunteers he would slide to third base for his junior season. He also saw a little bit of time at shortstop during the season. Since being drafted in June of 2016, Senzel has played exclusively at third base for the Reds.
In 2017 Eugenio Suarez had a breakout season, both at the plate and in the field. That put the Reds in a position where they had an All-Star caliber third baseman, as well as arguably the top third base prospect on the planet knocking on the door for 2018. Short of trading one of them, something had to give. It seems that for now, that give may be sliding Nick Senzel to second base.
At the time of the draft some scouts were suggesting that Nick Senzel should slide back to second base as a pro. The added value of his bat at the position would be a boost, and he was athletic enough to handle the position defensively. It sounds like we will all get our first look at it in February.
It’s also worth noting that Dick Williams said it was likely that Senzel would start the year in Triple-A. That’s not surprising. Keeping him in the Minor Leagues for 10 days will give the organization another full year of team control.
What will the Reds do with Nick Senzel and the others?
This does bring up another question, though: What happens with the other second basemen in the organization? Scooter Gennett is coming off of an outstanding season at the plate for the Reds. And he’s under team control for both the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Gennett did see some action in the outfield in 2017 with the Reds, but the outfield is also crowded moving forward (at least for now). Behind Gennett are prospects Alex Blandino and Shed Long. And then there is Dilson Herrera, who is coming off of shoulder surgery, and must stick to the 25-man roster.
It is going to be interesting to see how all of this plays out. The Reds certainly have a whole lot of different ways that they can maneuver this entire situation. There are lots of pieces to this puzzle, and probably more than one way to complete it. Hopefully the organization can figure out the right way to maximize things at the big league level with all of the players involved.