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Reds Will Not Retain Hitting Coach Turner Ward

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Hitting coach Turner Ward will not return to the Reds for the 2020 season, the club announced today. He had been hired last fall as part of a revamped coaching staff under first-year manager David Bell.

Ward came to Cincinnati after previously serving as the Dodgers’ hitting coach. President of baseball operations Dick Williams thanked Ward in a statement but explained that, “as we reflected on this season, it became clear that we lacked the alignment we were seeking with our offensive approach.”

It seems the organization will return the remainder of Bell’s staff, though the announcement did not make that explicit. The Reds will now set out to find a new hitting voice to replace Ward.

Reds Part With Several Coaches

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  • The Reds’ player development system is undergoing significant changes, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer details. Outfield/baserunning coordinator Billy Hatcher, Triple-A manager Jody Davis, Triple-A pitching coach Jeff Fassero, Double-A pitching coach Danny Darwin and hitting coordinator Milt Thompson are all on the way out. The longest-tenured Red of the bunch was Hatcher, who was one of the organization’s coaches for 14 years.

Derek Dietrich Undergoes Shoulder Procedure

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Reds infielder Derek Dietrich has undergone left shoulder surgery, as Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer was among those to cover on Twitter. Fortunately, the clean-up procedure did not reveal any significant damage.

The expectation is that Dietrich will have a more-or-less unimpeded offseason. If there truly aren’t any real ongoing concerns, then it seems likely the club can make a decision whether to tender Dietrich a contract without worrying much about his health.

That said, it’s hardly clear that the Reds will want to commit to Dietrich for 2020. The 30-year-old had a monster showing in the first two months of the season but fell off badly thereafter. He hasn’t played much at all in the second half and a .187/.328/.462 overall slash line that translates only to a 103 wRC+.

Reds Notes: Brennaman, Votto, Gray, Barnhart

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The Reds played their last home game of the season today, which doubled the final game of Marty Brennaman’s 46-year career calling Reds baseball.  The longtime radio broadcaster was feted by the team in ceremonies both before and after the game, giving the Cincinnati fans multiple chances to celebrate the man who has been a fixture behind the microphone since the days of the Big Red Machine teams.  We at MLBTR congratulate Brennaman on a wonderful career, and wish him all the best in retirement.

More from Cincy…

  • 2019 has been “an awful year” for Reds cornerstone Joey Votto, who went into detail with reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) about “the worst year of my career.”  The 36-year-old has hit only .264/.360/.417 over an even 600 plate appearances, with his batting average, OBP, and wRC+ (103) all representing the lowest totals of Votto’s 13 Major League seasons.  Were it not for a hot streak in August and September, Votto would have certainly been in danger of posting the first below-average (as per wRC+) season of his outstanding career.  It also marks the second straight year of mediocre power numbers for Votto, who had a .578 SLG as recently as 2017.  “I didn’t help the team enough this year. There were long stretches where I was a liability in important parts of the season,” Votto said.  Between his performance and another losing season for the Reds, it was a frustrating enough season for Votto that he is planning to “just take as much time away from the game as possible, just kind of recharge” over the winter.  This said, Votto also has some hope for a rebound, noting that he has spoken to other veteran players who have recovered from late-career “downturns and they made the adjustment and flourished at the end.”
  • Remaining an everyday contributor is very important to Votto, as “I don’t think I would have fun coming out and just collecting paychecks and facing favorable matchups and taking more days off. I just don’t think that would resonate with me.”  The first baseman is under contract through the 2023 season at the cost of $107MM in guaranteed money, and while he has said in the past that he was willing to retire if he was no longer enjoying the game, that time hasn’t yet come.  “Yeah, I’ve had my moments where I’ve been really, really frustrated and thought a good deal about non-baseball, but you know, I don’t think I’m there yet,” Votto said.
  • Sonny Gray underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow yesterday, correcting a problem that has bothered the right-hander since Spring Training, he told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer).  In fact, Gray said that “I think we were two days away from having this [surgery] done in spring,” which would have cost him roughly a month of the regular season.  “It came to a point where if I couldn’t start throwing tomorrow or the next day, it almost becomes a point where you might need to get this done now. That was definitely an option,” Gray said.  Even while dealing with the discomfort of four bone chips in his elbow, Gray enjoyed an impressive season, posting a 2.87 ERA, 3.01 K/BB rate, and 10.5 K/9 over 175 1/3 innings for the Reds.
  • Switch-hitter Tucker Barnhart is considering becoming a full-time left-handed batter, the catcher tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.  “I’m trying to see if it’s a possibility moving forward and I’ll go into the offseason, sit down and think about it again.  Then I’ll head into Spring Training with a clear vision of what I want to do,” Barnhart said.  Entering today’s action, Barnhart has made just 46 plate appearances from the right side of the plate this season, compared to 309 PA as a left-handed hitter (including five PA hitting as a lefty against a left-handed pitcher).  Barnhart has a .259/.337/.390 career slash line over 1648 PA as a left-handed hitter against righty pitching, compared to only hitting .220/.297/.296 over 401 PA as a right-handed batter.  “I just feel like I’m giving myself a better chance, left on left than right on left….I won’t say it’s hurt my left-handed swing, but I don’t think [switch-hitting] has allowed me to reach my full potential left-handed because I still have to work on hitting right-handed and that’s less swings for the left side,” Barnhart said.

Sonny Gray Undergoes Arthroscopic Elbow Surgery

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Reds right-hander Sonny Gray underwent an arthroscopic procedure to remove loose bodies from his right elbow today, the team announced. The procedure isn’t expected to impact his offseason training regimen, nor should it have any sort of impact on his availability for the beginning of Spring Training.

Cincinnati’s decision to buy low on Gray, who’ll turn 30 this winter, proved to be one of the best moves made by any team this winter. The Reds bet big on Gray not only by trading Shed Long and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick to obtain the former Oakland ace but also by inking him to a three-year, $30.5MM extension that covers the 2020-22 seasons.

Gray put a forgettable 2018 season with the Yankees squarely in the rear-view mirror by not simply returning to his 2017 form but arguably by delivering the best season of his career. Through 175 1/3 innings, the 2011 first-rounder logged a 2.87 ERA (3.43 FIP, 3.65 xFIP) with a career-high 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Gray’s average of 3.5 walks per nine frames was up from the 2015 season in which he finished third in American League Cy Young voting, but he also managed to allow just 0.87 homers per nine innings pitched. That’s a strong number in any season but is particularly impressive when pitching in the cozy confines of Great American Ball Park during 2019’s record-setting home run boom.

With Gray and midseason acquisition Trevor Bauer now in the plans for 2020, joining holdovers Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani, the Reds look to have the foundation for an extremely strong starting staff in place. There’ll be work to do elsewhere on the roster this winter, but the Reds’ pitching next season could be more formidable than at any point in recent memory.

Nick Senzel To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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Reds rookie Nick Senzel is scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery next week to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. A timetable for his return is not yet known.

Though it was already known that Senzel’s season would end prematurely, there were questions whether the injury would require surgery or not. Those questions, of course, have now been answered and that procedure has been scheduled for Tuesday.

While no timetable has been announced, manager David Bell expressed optimism that his young center fielder would be ready to play on Opening Day 2020.

Notably, it’s not believed that the surgery will force a return to the infield for Senzel, who was thrust into a new position in his first taste of the big leagues. For his part, he fared reasonably well in center field as a rookie, credited with -1 DRS and -1 UZR—not bad marks, all things considered (he only started playing the position in spring training). He was drafted and developed as an infielder, though opportunities at second and third base have been scarce, with Eugenio Suarez entrenched at the hot corner. With Scooter Gennett no longer in Cincinnati, there’s a need at second base, although the Reds wouldn’t have an immediate replacement for Senzel in center field in such a scenario, making that an unlikely outcome. Anyway, there’s no reason to move Senzel down the defensive spectrum if he’s shown himself a passable center fielder.

It was an up-and-down rookie season for Senzel, the former second-overall draft choice in 2016. Through July, he had posted an OPS of over .800, though a dreadful month of August dragged that number down considerably. Overall, he drew walks at a 7.3% clip, a solid rate for a rookie. He’s always been lauded for his offensive skillset, which carried him throughout the minors. While he’s yet to really make good on those evaluations, he’s only got 414 Major League plate appearances under his belt. He’s had his moments, and has in reality had just one bad month.

More concerning that his performance, though, is the laundry list of injuries that Senzel’s accrued at just age 24. He missed much of the 2018 minor-league season with a fractured finger and vertigo, then began this season on the injured list with a sprained ankle.

Reds Select Contract Of Christian Colon

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The Reds have selected the contract of infielder Christian Colon, the club announced and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic was among those to cover on Twitter. Colon, the fourth overall pick of the 2010 draft, will join the active roster for the final two weeks of the season.

It has been a few years since Colon has seen the majors. The 30-year-old carries a .252/.315/.315 batting line in 386 total plate appearances, all compiled between 2014 and 2017 with the Royals and Marlins.

Odds are, the Reds will put the 40-man roster to another use once the season was over. But Colon will help fill in for the time being. And he certainly earned the call-up with a strong showing this year at Triple-A Louisville.

Through 582 plate appearances this year at the highest level of the minors, Colon slashed .300/.372/.443 with ten long balls and 24 steals along with a 58:57 K/BB ratio. That’s good for a 110 wRC+. He was also an above-average hitter at Triple-A last year and has always graded well in the field, so perhaps there’s still a chance for a bit of a late-career renaissance for the former top Kansas City farmhand.

Senzel Likely To Stick In Center For Now

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  • The Reds don’t expect Nick Senzel’s torn labrum to affect his defensive placement moving forward, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Said Manager David Bell, “He’s so young that hopefully his shoulder — he gets through this and that won’t be a factor at all on what position he plays. I’m expecting a full recovery.” The organization was impressed with how quickly Senzel made camp in center, enough to let his future defensive home remain a dependent variable. Without a clear-cut alternative in center, however, Senzel’s likely to stay put in the near-term. There’s questions in the infield, too, where a handful of options speckle the 2020 landscape, though none of Freddy Galvis, Jose Peraza, Josh VanMeter, or Derek Dietrich have a firm hold on starter’s minutes. 

Nick Senzel Done For Season Due To Torn Right Labrum

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Nick Senzel’s season is over, as the Reds outfielder has suffered a torn right labrum, The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans reports (Twitter link).  Senzel has missed four of Cincinnati’s last seven games due to the shoulder injury, and only took one plate appearances over the other three games.

Senzel will finish with a .256/.315/.427 slash line and 12 homers over 414 plate appearances, while also stealing 14 bases in 19 chances.  With only an 89 OPS+ and wRC+, it wasn’t quite the big breakout the Reds and their fans were hoping for from one of the game’s top prospects, though it’s worth noting that a sprained ankle suffered late in Spring Training kept Senzel from taking the field until April 23, and delayed his Major League debut until May 3.

Perhaps most troublingly, the 24-year-old is already amassing a rather lengthy injury history just four years into his pro career.  Senzel played just 44 total games (all at Triple-A) in 2018 due to a broken finger and a bout of vertigo, which also cost him time in 2017.  The Reds were going to send Senzel to the Arizona Fall League for more seasoning, only to drop those plans when elbow surgery sidelined him for much of October and November of last year.

Through it all, Senzel also had to take on a brand-new position, as Cincinnati shifted him into center field duty.  Since he’d never played center field prior to 2019, Senzel’s slightly below-average defensive metrics (-2.1 UZR/150 and -1 Defensive Run Saved) are actually more than respectable.  It seems likely that the Reds will continue to use Senzel in center going forward, though now that Scooter Gennett is no longer in the picture, one wonders if the club would consider having Senzel split time between both second base and center field.  Senzel’s original third base position, of course, is blocked by slugger Eugenio Suarez.

It isn’t known if Senzel will require shoulder surgery, though president of baseball operations Dick Williams suggested Thursday that Senzel could be ready for Spring Training either way (link via Daniel Kramer of MLB.com).

Selected as the second overall pick in the 2016 draft, Senzel’s hitting ability has been highly regarded since his days at the University of Tennessee.  Senzel hit .312/.388/.508 with 28 home runs over 1028 PA in the minors, including an .853 OPS over 231 PA at the Triple-A level.

Giants Claim Wandy Peralta

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The Giants have claimed left-handed pitcher Wandy Peralta off waivers from the Reds, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. He’ll report to his new club on Monday, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, adding that the Giants have placed infielder Zach Green on the 60-day injured list thanks to a hip impingement.

Peralta has thrown 34 innings for the Reds this year, striking out 27 batters and walking 15 en route to a 6.09 ERA. He hasn’t been able to duplicate the success he generated in 2017, but he’ll have a chance for a change of scenery as he joins the stable of Giants relievers for a September tryout.

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