The Cincinnati Reds top prospect Nick Senzel is ready to play baseball. A blonde woman scampers past him. She wears a scarf on her head and glances at Senzel. Because he’s interested, and not at all a creeper, he follows her to the San Francisco Bay, where she dips her foot in the water. She turns her head and it’s revealed it’s not a blonde woman at all, but it’s the rapper Sisqo. AHHHHH!!!
So, Senzel has had to deal with vertigo more times than Jimmy Stewart without the love of his dog, Beau. Senzel missed time in 2017, then again this year. I’d say this is a big warning sign, but it’s more of a spinning, spiral sign. Can imagine Nick Senzel when he walks past a store with a person outside spinning a sign? Dude must straight lose it. “Everywhere I go, it’s like I’m outside a Subway sandwich shop and someone is spinning a sign. I don’t know why I see people dressed as submarine sandwiches everywhere too. That is weird.” That’s Senzel talking to his therapist. This dizziness that Senzel is suffering from for two years is a bit more worrisome than, say, a broken hand. One just heals, the other is more obtuse. Unfortunately, he’s got some of those non-obtuse injuries too. The hits (to his health, and not off his bat) keep piling up. He’s currently rehabbing surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow, but this is supposedly minor and he’ll be fine in time for Spring Training. Never heard that before! Anyway, what can we expect from Nick Senzel in 2019 fantasy baseball?
I spent an exorbitant amount of time on Senzel’s vertigo, because it does have me concerned and will be the difference between him seeing 350 ABs in the majors and less than 150. If the Reds don’t promote him by at the latest mid-June, then it’s due to vertigo or them just being dumb. Senzel is already 23 years old, and has nothing to prove still in the minors. Last year, in a shortened year (171 ABs) in Triple-A, he went 6/8/.310. Pretty much what he does every year in the minors — decent pop, some speed and great average. Not overly thrilled with his strikeout rate over 20% last year in Triple-A, but when the room is spinning and you’re not even in a room, things do spiral downward. Reds really do need to turn the page, and not just like that dictionary page. They need to start looking at the future, and Senzel has worked out in the outfield, and at just about every infield spot except 1st, which is Voccupied anyway. Whether it’s the Reds move Scooter to outfield and play Senzel at 2nd or Eugenio to short, Peraza to 2nd and Senzel to 3rd or Senzel to the outfield or something else entirely, they need to figure it out. Also, those names may not jump off the page, but I like all of them and the Reds’ offense shouldn’t be a pushover with a legit chance of Senzel being their two-hole hitter. There’s been comparisons of Senzel to a young David Wright, or David “When He Was” Wright. Could see it; he just needs to stop chasing random blondes towards large bodies of water. For 2019, I’ll give Nick Senzel the projections of 51/13/56/.291/10 in 384 ABs with a chance for more if the Reds commit to him in March and a full bill of health.
