Lorenzo Cedrola began the 2021 season in Double-A with the Chattanooga Lookouts. Through his first nine games of the season he had just six hits and was hitting .207. But in the second half of May be started to heat up and hit .302 and picked up his first home run to close out the month. Not only did he pick things up from there, but he went next-level in June. The outfielder had 12 multi-hit games out of 24 games played and put up a .365/.378/.531 line in 98 plate appearances. He also hit three home runs, giving him four on the season – matching a career high.
Things slowed down a little bit in July for Cedrola, though it’s tough to expect someone to continue to hit .365. In the 24 games during the month he hit .286/.320/.398 with six extra-base hits that included a home run that set a new career high with five. August saw an uptick in offense as the Venezuelan-born outfielder hit .333 with another home run – capped off by a 5-hit game on the 25th against Tennessee (the final game of the month as the remaining series was cancelled).
In 15 games with the Lookouts in September Cedrola hit .360/.431/560 with three home runs, which ran his now career high to nine. That ended the Double-A season, but Cincinnati promoted him up to Triple-A Louisville for the “final stretch”. Over those nine games Cedrola picked up nine more hits and his 10th homer of the season.
For all 2021 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Lorenzo Cedrola Scouting Report
Position: Outfield | B/T: R/R
Height: 5′ 8″ | Weight: 152 lbs | Acquired: Trade (Boston, 2018)
Born: January 12, 1998
Hitting | He has a slightly above-average hit tool.
Power | He has below-average power.
Speed | Has above-average to plus speed.
Defense | He has above-average defense.
Arm | His arm is average.
Lorenzo Cedrola has always hit for a high average. For his career the lowest average he posted at any stop in the minors where he spent more than two weeks was when he hit .277 in Daytona during the 2019 season. What he hasn’t always done, or ever really done, is show any semblance of power. At 5′ 8″ and listed at 152 lbs., it’s not surprising that the power isn’t there. Still, scouts had always said there was more power in there than he was showing and in 2021 it began to show up. After having a career high of four home runs entering the season, Cedrola clubbed 10 of them during the year. He can and does use the entire field. His power is mostly limited to pull side – at least when it comes to home runs. The speed has allowed him to rack up infield hits and boost his average.
Defensively Cedrola has played all three outfield spots and he can handle all three of them with good range. Center isn’t an issue for him as his speed plays well there. His arm doesn’t stand out in right field, but he can cover you there if asked.
For Lorenzo Cedrola it seems that if there’s a path to him being a starter it’s going to have to be in center. His bat simply doesn’t profile enough to be in the corners. The lack of power and walks just makes that a tough sell. In center you can get away with a lesser bat profile. Cedrola makes plenty of contact and there’s a chance he could carry a high enough average to make things work in the right scenario. But more likely he profiles in a bench role where his defense, ability to be a pinch runner, and a pinch hitter who can make contact at the big league level.
Lorenzo Cedrola Spray Chart
Interesting Stat on Lorenzo Cedrola
He had 32 infield hits, but only 3 of them were bunt singles.
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Cedrola has very good bat-to-ball skills, and which is something the organization sorely lacks. He has a nice, compact swing, which is what you would expect with his low strikeout rate. He also has very good speed, and the Reds last year were as fast as the average nursing-home softball league team.
I like Cedrola in general. He is a little guy, but he also made it to AAA by age 23 as that same little guy, and did it while missing the Covid year of 2020. He’s just now turned 24, so he still has a chance to get much stronger and become a solid gap hitter.
He doesn’t walk much, and the Reds are going to have to decide if they can live with that. On the other hand, his splits in AA/AAA last year against LH pitching were .331/.346/.535, so a Friedl/Cedrola CF platoon might actually work. Both Freidl and Cedrola are better players in all respects than the lamentable Shogo Akiyama, whom the Reds should discard, $8 million or not.
I agree with everything you said with the exception of platooning Cedrola with Friedl. I am not a big fan of Friedl. I see Cedrola as a 4th OF with Winker LF, and Naquin RF.
It will be interesting to see what they do with Barrero. The Barrero question will effect a lot of other decisions.
If Barrero is the SS, Cedrola should make the roster, as Farmer would be an infield utility, and Senzel would be the CF.
If Barrero is the CF, Lopez should make the roster, as Farmer would be the SS, Senzel would be a 4th OF, and Lopez is an infield utility.
I’m assuming Schrock is a lock to make the bench, unless trades are coming.
If Farmer is the starting SS and the OF is Winker, Senzel, and Naquin with Friedl on the bench, it’s going to be a long and miserable season. The Reds should be shopping their entire OF and looking to start over. And before someone brings up Winker being an All-Star, look at his stats, he can’t hit LH’ers.
Most likely it will be a long year. We’d need a lot of if’s to fall our way to be competitive. I doubt Bob opens the budget up for an impact player.
Sadly MBS, I couldn’t agree more.
Glad to see some others on here understand it will be a long season.
I think a 14 team playoff would open up the possibility of a meaningful season. Prior to the season start I would prefer 1-2 quality trades involving 1-2 of Mahle, Gray, Castillo & Winker. Preferably Mahle and Gray.
Keeping Moose and Suarez depends on the DH. Keep both if there is a DH. Allow their value to go back up from near bottom. From there, cross your fingers with the bullpen and rookie starters. Maybe sign some last ditch vets to fill in. In all of this dreck, I still think a 14 team playoff makes the first 4 months interesting.
Cedrola is one that I thought may see Rule 5 protection. I feel like he could be useful on a club as a late inning defender / pinch runner kind of player while serving his rule 5 status.
I like the above idea of a Cedrola / Friedl tandem type of deal. But also, as mentioned above, both might spend a lot of time in Louisville this year because of Shogo’s roster spot.
Wonder how many trades will be announced the day after the CBA is completed. Can’t imagine the GMs aren’t talking through this period. There could be a spot for Cedrola when they come back.
Cedrola as a defensive caddy/ pinch-runner/ third CF has some merit for a roster spot, but I don’t think it makes sense for this season.
The Reds have at least three CF already on the team– Senzel, Shogo, and Naquin– plus Barrero (who’s got some experience there), Friedl, and even Aquino.
Too, beyond Winker, there’s already a lot of question about Cincinnati’s OF offense, and Cedrola does nothing to answer those questions.
I think he’s a fine fourth or more likely fifth OF candidate, but I’d like to see him get more AAA PAs before giving him that job.
I hear you, but I don’t think that Akiyama is much better at baseball than Fredo Corleone. Naquin is marginal at best defensively in CF but would work in RF. Senzel in theory could play CF, but due to the injury karma I think he needs to be moved to first base (and Votto to DH) or back to 3B just to get him back to the infield.
I am curious how Aquino would do in CF. There would be a big risk of failure, but his swing/approach requires that he plays a lot or not at all. He has an incredibly strong arm, and is pretty fast once he gets going. To me, he didn’t seem out of place in center in the limited times I’ve seen him. If it works, it would solve a lot of problems, but that is certainly a massive “if.”
I would be shocked if Barrero (barring injury) is not the starting shortstop all season.
I cannot agree more about getting Senzel back on the dirt. Third or first is fine with me while the other player is the DH. I have absolutely no “evidence” But it sure seems like Senzel’s awful injury started popping up the more the Reds played him off 3B.
Cedrola will have to prove himself at every level and likely every season., fair or unfair. 5’8″ 155 lbs guys break down for a reason. By comparison, Mookie Betts is 5’9″ and pushing 200. The key for Cedrola will be his strength and whether he can get to and sustain greater power numbers.
I don’t know about the “break down” aspect, but he strikes me as akin to Ronald Torreyes, who has carved out a nice career after the Reds traded him. Cedrola may have slightly more value as a CF defense piece, if he can maintain his batting stats and speed, or develop a platoon advantage. He, Lopez, Schrock and Friedl may be one too many of a type for the roster, but let them sort it out.
Betts is listed everywhere as 180 pounds, and it is similar to what I’ve seen of him. There are plenty of smaller guys. Joe Morgan was about the same size as Cedrola; a bit stouter, but Cedrola is still only 23.
Do we really have any evidence that small baseball players get injured more than big guys? I would think it would be the opposite; Aaron Judge and Mike Stanton fight stuff all the time. Sean Casey ran like he was always hurt, but it turns out that he was just impossibly slow.
Betts is 190 plus. The evidence is to name the undersized players being ML regulars in comparison to the guys with much better size and strength. Like I said, fair or unfair. And I like this kid. It’s just reality.
Betts is 190 plus. The evidence is to name the undersized players being ML regulars in comparison to the guys with much better size and strength. Like I said, fair or unfair. And I like this kid. It’s just reality.