Reds right-hander Michael Lorenzen is working out extensively as an outfielder this offseason in hopes of finding his way into an expanded, hybrid role in 2019, writes Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The organization appears to be open to the possibility of utilizing Lorenzen on the grass, though it’s as yet unclear how likely it is that he’ll ultimately do so in the regular season.
Lorenzen, 27, pitched to a 3.11 ERA with 6.0 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, 0.67 HR/9 and a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate in 81 innings of relief last season. Lorenzen also emerged as a legitimate offensive weapon off the bench. A two-way star at Cal State Fullerton where he pitched and played center field, Lorenzen went 9-for-31 and belted four homers as a pinch-hitter for Cincinnati last season. That strong showing included an incredible run where he hit three pinch homers in a week’s time (video link), capped off by a grand slam.
First and foremost, Lorenzen is an important set-up/swingman option for a Cincinnati club that’s hoping to make strides in the season to come. He has his hands full already. Despite missing nearly two months to open the 2018 season, he ended up throwing 81 innings in 45 appearances, including three starts at the tail end of the season.
If Shohei Ohtani can do handle two-way duties, then perhaps Lorenzen should be given a shot. Stepping into the outfield defensively, though, would definitely represent a significant additional burden and avenue for risk. Ohtani did play the field in Japan, but was only utilized as a DH upon coming to the majors. That option isn’t available to the Reds, so they’ll need to put Lorenzen in the field at times if they want him to accrue any significant number of plate appearances.
Ultimately, it’s not clear whether it will prove all that useful for the Reds to utilize Lorenzen as a part-time outfielder. Beyond concerns with the possible impact on his pitching, the club is already fairly deep in outfield options (Jesse Winker, Scott Schebler, Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Phil Ervin). And there’s good reason to be skeptical of how Lorenzen will fare if exposed to MLB pitching more regularly, though he has certainly shown enough to make it tantalizing to see more. It’s anyone’s guess how he’ll look defensively, though Lorenzen certainly seems athletic enough to handle himself just fine.
It may be that the most sensible outcome, at least early on, would be to take advantage of the flexibility on a limited basis. There are all kinds of interesting game-situation strategies that new skipper David Bell might contemplate. If nothing else, Lorenzen could still see scattered pinch-hitting opportunities as he did last year. If it proves necessary, or Lorenzen proves worthy, then perhaps a few starts would even be appropriate.
One thing that seems clear is that Lorenzen himself is on board with the possibility of a new job description. He spoke about his preparation in a recent appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio), voicing not only a willingness but an eagerness and desire for more time at the plate in 2019. Lorenzen joked that he’s “begged” the Reds for an expanded role and sounds energized by the possibility of getting some chances at the plate and in the field next season.
intresting
Not much happening in baseball today.
I’ll take this over a bunch of conflicting Harper/Machado reports any day
Atta boy. Ditto
amen
I sat next to a Reds scout at one of their AA games in Pensacola. Tge guy was on the phone for a whole inning discussing exactly this. He said strait up Lorenzen’s athletic ability and college performance didn’t worry him at all about whether he could handle it. So this has clearly been floated around for a while
Love that ballpark! We vacation in Miramar Beach and love making the hour trek to see our youngsters play. There’s nothing special about the ballpark that makes it stand out above other MiLB parks, except for the vibe. It has a lot of that.
Dude rakes.
According to Jeff’s 2nd sentence, he’s more of a mower.
Best comment all week. +10
Yeps
Is he going to play in that outfield though?
Puig, Winker, Kemp, Schebler and possibly Senzel will all receive at bats.
He’s the best centerfielder of the bunch
I mean, he wouldn’t have to play often.
If he can get 200 PA’s as a pinch hitter and spot outfield starter, that could be plenty
None of those guys are legit CFrs. Schebler and Puig can “handle” CF. Senzel may be able to, but maybe not. Lorenzen is probably no worse than the others.
That said, I’m guessing IF he performs in ST, Lorenzen will get occasional time in CF. Makes for interesting subs, particularly if they go with a 4 man bench.
i dont see the point of worrying about Senzel playing OF when he’s blocked by a rental at 2B.
i mean its not like he will take up two roster spots if he plays OF as well. Extra depth for the same amount of roster spots is a real luxury.
Trying to be like travis wood. He could easily do both. Trade him to the AL let him be a 2 way player
Or just let him pinch hit and be a long reliever. He can get 4-5 abs a week if he throws 6-8 innings in relief (2 separate 3-4 inning outings), couple that with two pinch hit opportunities where he doesn’t go out to the mound he could easily get 150 abs.
Great point, Reds’ starting pitching ain’t much to get really excited about. Go modified “opener”, pinch hit him in 3rd inning, throw 3-innings to get a couple ABs in.
Exactly. What’s the point? Unless they think he’s the next rick ankiel, forget it.
It was a different situation with Ankiel. He pitched like an ace his first couple years, then just completely lost the strike zone and was throwing wildly as if he has some sort of mental block. He worked his way back up to the majors as an outfielder. This guy has the ability to do both.
The Mets have the opposite situation – a position player who can pitch. JD Davis was a closer in college and has come out of the bullpen with some success a few times in the majors. DeGrom played shortstop in college but for some reason I don’t think we’ll see that in the majors.
This guy was one of your best relivers. . . You really wanna give him less opportunity with his number one job of importance, in order to gain a few at bats a week?… On days he’s scheduled off late in a game. Maybe a defense replacement for Kemp or such. Get an AB. See how he does. Or a tight situation late in a game with no one else available. Again on scheduled days off. He could be a weapon. But expect a .220 hitter at best. Maybe slightly higher. Good to have on the team. But Number One Job is Putting our fires in the Eighth…….
Except he doesn’t have to pitch less to hit more often?
Obviously no one is expecting a .330 batter with 20 HR. I think what people want to see is a smartly used athlete. If you watch the Reds you’d see he maybe the best athlete on the team. Finding a way to get him 200 AB’s as many others have mentioned would not take him away from his primary responsibility, which has been as you’d said earlier putting out fires. He usualy comes in a lot earlier than the 8th the majority of his innings are in the 6th and 7th. It’s usually the point where the starters began to lose control. The setup was mostly Hughes and Hernandez.
Heard on MLB network interview that he has a pretty unorthodox workout thats not really unorthodox, but what he called not mainstream. He said it helps keep him stay in great shape. One of the exercises is box jumps. Interested to see how he does. The Reds were my sleeper team last year as well as the A’s. If they can pick up Gray and Kuechel than they should be competing for a wild card. Im looking for Puig to have a great year. Wouldn’t surprise me if he is starting in the All Star game this year with it being hosted in Ohio albeit in Cleveland. Also would really be disappointed if they traded Senzel. This guys going to be a superstar IMO.
Travis Wood “easily” stood in left field for 5 innings. I’d imagine the Reds expect a lot more from Lorenzen.
Travis Wood also had a number 1 web gem making a catch against the brick wall. Any and everyone whose played at Wrigley knows there no give on that wall.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the Reds will fully commit… He has been good at the plate but I think we would need to see a full season of him as a position player to get a better idea. I like him as a pitcher but specifically as a starter. He will continue to develop but to what degree I’m not sure. I also think this guy is a great clubhouse presence, but maybe not a leader.
The point isnt to make him a full time outfielder tho, so the whole full season of being out in the field is pointless, especially at this stage of his career.
They’re attempting to acquire Sonny Gray to play shortstop……
First Matt Davidson and now him, I really think we are going to see the age of the 2 way player. Every team will have one guy who can eat some innings and be the last guy on the bench to save roster space.
i highly doubt Matt Davidson will be any better a pitcher than Christian Bethancourt was.
Why not give it a shot? Easy to revert course mid season if it doesn’t work out.
I would think they would only do this in certain situations. I don’t think there is anyway that they would do this with the thought being as an everyday CF or even platoon. Maybe late in a blowout game. If it’s productive, think about the possibility of moving him to center from the mound after a couple innings. That gives you another double switch option in 2 spots of the order..
I think he could be a very valuable asset.
I don’t think he should be allowed to hit against the Brewers, at least not for a couple of years. He’s done enough damage.
could be a designated pitcher in the same game he plays the field
Yeah, they could have him pitch, move him to the OF for a lefty-lefty situation then bring him back to the mound if they needed too pretty easily.
Great point
Especially in inter league play .. with the DH as someone else mentioned.
I saw Lorenzen at Cal State Fullerton. He is fully capable of doing everything. Pitch, hit, and play the field. He has good range especially toward right field.
Yu Darvish just fell off the stage at the cubs convention.
You’re so funny you should be a comedian
Plus they can put him to DH when they play in an American League park.
‘If Shohei Ohtani can do handle two-way duties’? This site has an insane amount of typos. Don’t you guys proofread anything before posting?
I miss the pre-Internet days when typos and minor grammatical errors were not treated as if they were a capital offense.
Standards suck.
Sometimes They Are In Fact Capital Offenses.
ABSOLUTELY give the guy a chance. There is little to lose and the reward is great.
I hope more of these two way players come out more. pitchers who can hit is just awsome. maybe the end to the dh and beginning of the rebirth of old time baseball with no dh
I think Lorenzen deserves a chance, just need to make sure his defensive ability won’t be a problem.
My buddy played with him at CSUF. When he came in to close, my friend ran in from the pen, we were surprised and thought maybe he would close instead. He walks up to lorenzen, gives him his glove, and walks to the dugout.
FO’s are looking at things to improve the versatility of their team roster. A few years ago the super utilityman was what team’s searched for, so having a pitcher, reliever or starter, that can also give you quality ABs, then of course they are going to mine the college ranks for just those types of players. But it’ll be interesting when legitimate two-way players want to get paid through arb and free agency as such.
If a team finds such a player, that can pitch well, hit well and play defense well, agents are going to market that player in such a way that he and the player will demand a higher compensation and rightly so. Owners and FO’s are going to balk at that demand, most likely, and kill off the two-way player if possible.
Well, yeah, I mean….who isnt out there looking for Babe Ruth types already? It’s not like they arent valued….they’re just really rare. To be able to pitch and hit in the major leagues is rare.
100% Michael can be a strong two way player. At Cal State Fullerton he was their best hitter and dominant closer. He could have been Otani before Otani, no doubt about it. He is working out like crazy all winter and will be a beast this year. Reds, wake up and utilize your talents. It is and has been so obvious that Michael should play both pitcher and fielder (and hit bombs). Why have they not done this earlier? He is a better hitter than pitcher and he is a very good pitcher, what does that tell ya! MICHAEL LORENZEN IS A STUD AND THE FANS WILL SEE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS!! Trade him to the Yankees for Sonny Gray! Pinstripes would look good on him.
I can hear Tom Brenneman right now saying “are you kidding me are you kidding me”
I don’t know, it’s not unprecedented I’ve seen Joe Madden do this thing where he will put a rhp in left field and bring in a lhp to face a lefty batter and then bring back the pitcher from left field and put a new left fielder in after the lefty battle. I could see the reds being very comfortable with that when the situations dictate in an effort to keep his bat in the lineup.
The Rays moved Romo to 3B then back to the mound to pitch.
He’s a literal swingman (:
I watch him during batting practice and he’s legit!
He has heart and he’s going to work his way into the roll. Watch.
I think if we had had any interest in doing this, we’d have done it by now.. But if we are going to do it, then turn him to the OF full time. The guy’s no great shakes as a pitcher.
I have never understood why two-way players were discouraged from pursuing pitching and hitting. If you got the skills, go for it. If you have success, great. Uf not focus on the best skill as the higher levels.
Wanna make the game more interesting to your fans? Get a two way player
A bit of a moot point, but Lorenzen should’ve won the SS award (for pitchers).
Brooks Kieschnick 2.0
Absurdity.
He’ll be fun to watch, count me in.
Ohtani should’ve been allowed to play the outfield as well. He’s really good at it, and if you’re gonna complicate things, you might as well get the most value out of it. A plus defensive fourth outfielder who can hit (so, basically, using a starter quality outfielder in a part time role) is 3-4 times more valuable than a part time DH.
The Reds are going to be fun to watch this year. As long as the rotation keeps them in games.
This poste is 4 the cloun tat sed 2 prove reed R postes .. who cares ! Cheers!
r/ihadaseizure
How Lorenzen didnt win the Silver Slugger in the NL is one of the under-the-radar crimes of recent history.
this is certianly true. chanses are he lost simply because he was a reliever and the voters didnt think of him when voting.
He’d be useful in double switch situations when you don’t want to burn a PH. Let him pinch hit and then come in to pitch, or pinch hit and then move to CF.