Why Cincinnati Reds shipped former core player Nick Senzel to minors before Pirates game
PITTSBURGH — Nick Senzel, a guy who didn’t expect to be with the Cincinnati Reds after the Aug. 1 trade deadline, wasn’t by game time Friday.
The struggling Reds sent the veteran hitter to Triple-A Louisville after he arrived at the ballpark in Pittsburgh, where the Reds later opened a three-game series against the Pirates, looking to break from a 1-8 slide.
It was the first minor-league demotion for Senzel since the 2016 No. 2 overall draft pick debuted for the Reds in 2019.
“Nick’s been with us for a long time, in the organization, on our team,” manager David Bell said. “He’s helped us win a lot of games. It just got to the point where Nick wasn’t going to be playing a lot over the next 10 days to two weeks.”
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His role already reduced from a starter to bench player and platoon starter against lefties, Senzel had struggled since the Reds’ efforts to shop him leading up to the deadline failed to attract an offer they were willing to take.
Keeping Senzel at the trade deadline made him a non-tender question for the off-season, where he’ll be a third-time arbitration-eligible player after making $1.95 million this year.
Friday’s move seemed to suggest the possibility Senzel, 28, has played his last game with the Reds — something general manager Nick Krall dismissed, pushing back on the idea he wouldn’t be back even this season.
“I don’t want to say he’s down there for the rest of the year,” Krall said. “He’s got an option. We’ve used the option. He’s going to go play in Triple-A and hopefully he gets himself back on track to gets back up here. When you send a guy down you want them to improve and to fight to get back up to this level.”
Krall, Bell, Senzel and his agent, Scott Boras, talked ahead of the deadline about the possibility that a trade of the club’s former top prospect might be best for all parties.
As for whether Senzel was affected by the fact he still was a Red after the deadline passed — going 4-for-29 (.138) with seven strikeouts and a .433 OPS — Krall said, “You’ll have to ask him.”
Senzel declined a request to talk with media as he packed in the clubhouse Friday afternoon.
Krall pointed to struggles overall for Senzel since he returned from an injury June 16 (.139, five home runs, 85 plate appearances since then).
“He’s hit lefties (.905 OPS), but he’s struggled overall in a part-time role since he came back,” said Krall, whose club won’t see a lot of left-handers in the next few series. “We felt that getting somebody else off the bench and getting him regular at-bats was the best way to go for the club.”
The Reds called up switch-hitting outfielder Henry Ramos from Louisville in a corresponding move Friday. The club designated Eduardo Salazar for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster for Ramos.
“We see Nick — and always have — as a talented player still young enough to be not necessarily a role player but a guy that plays every day,” Bell said. “He has that in him for sure. It was a tough decision but one we thought was best for Nick and our team.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Struggling Cincinnati Reds demote veteran Nick Senzel to minors
