On Thursday over at The Athletic, C. Trent Rosecrans posted an outstanding interview with Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams. That interview alone was worth the monthly price for a subscription. There’s a lot of rather interesting stuff within, and I’m not going to give it away. But there was one interesting note from there about Nick Senzel.
After injuring his shoulder late in August he wound up needing to have shoulder surgery to fix a tear in his labrum. Williams noted within the interview that Nick Senzel would be cleared for baseball activities in January and that the injury shouldn’t limit his ability to play anywhere on the field.
There’s two things that are pretty important with that news. First, the expectation is that when spring training rolls around, Nick Senzel should absolutely be ready to go. That’s great news to begin with. But the fact that this isn’t expected to keep him from playing in the outfield is also rather important – both for Senzel and for the Reds.
It was noted earlier this week that the Reds would be looking for a center fielder in free agency this offseason. There’s nothing wrong with that because Nick Senzel can play almost anywhere on the field. If the team can find someone to play center, then Senzel can slide to left, right, or second base. If the team can’t find a center fielder, then maybe they can look for someone the corner outfield spot(s) or second base, or catcher. Having the ability to play all over gives the organization more opportunities to improve the roster.