Nick Senzel

Nicholas Peter Senzel (born June 29, 1995) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to playing professionally, Senzel attended the University of Tennessee, where he played college baseball for the Volunteers. The Reds selected him with the second overall selection in the 2016 MLB draft and he made his major league debut in 2019.

Nick Senzel
Senzel with the Reds in 2019
Cincinnati Reds – No. 15
Center fielder
Born: (1995-06-29) June 29, 1995
Atlanta, Georgia
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 3, 2019, for the Cincinnati Reds
MLB statistics
(through August 13, 2020)
Batting average.257
Home runs14
Runs batted in50
Teams

Amateur career

Senzel attended Farragut High School in Farragut, Tennessee. Playing for the school's varsity baseball team all four years, he was a starter since his sophomore season. As a junior, he recorded a .404 batting average, seven home runs, and 46 runs batted in (RBIs) while playing second base for the Admirals.[1] Following his junior season, he signed his National Letter of Intent to join the Georgia baseball team.[1][2] As a senior, he hit .386 with five home runs and 42 RBIs. After Georgia fired coach David Perno, he was granted a release from his letter of intent to the University of Georgia. On June 17, 2013, he committed to the University of Tennessee.[3] Due to his late change to Tennessee, he played his first season in college as a walk-on.[4]

As a freshman at the University of Tennessee in 2014, Senzel had a .315 batting average, a .419 on-base percentage (OBP), and a .420 SLG, with twelve doubles. He played in 53 of 54 games with 45 starts coming at designated hitter (DH) and eight at second base.[5] He was named a freshman All-American by Louisville Slugger[6] and Perfect Game.[7] Following his freshman season at Tennessee, Senzel played collegiate summer baseball for the Mat-Su Miners of the Alaska Baseball League, where he batted 17-for-81 (.210) with three home runs and 13 RBIs.[8]

As a sophomore in 2015, Senzel batted .325 with a .495 SLG, 4 home runs, and 28 RBIs.[9] That summer, Senzel was selected by Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League to play for the summer. He was named the Cape Cod League MVP after he hit .364 with four home runs and 33 RBIs.[10][11]

In the 2016 season as a junior, Senzel hit 25 doubles to lead the Southeastern Conference. Senzel was nominated for the Golden Spikes Award,[12] which is awarded to the top collegiate player in the nation. He was also named a Perfect Game'/Rawlings First Team All-American, a Second Team All-American by Baseball America and Third Team All-America selection by both Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and D1Baseball.[13]

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

Senzel was considered to be one of the best available players in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft,[14] The Philadelphia Phillies, who had the first overall pick, scouted Senzel.[15] Many baseball executives and scouts agreed that Senzel was the safest pick in the draft.[15] He was also rated as the best hitter in the draft because of his abilities to hit gap-to-gap with power.[16]

After the Phillies selected Mickey Moniak with the first overall selection, the Cincinnati Reds chose Senzel with the second overall pick.[17][18][19] On June 13, 2016, Senzel signed with the Reds, receiving a $6.2 million signing bonus.[20] Senzel made his professional debut with the Billings Mustangs of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, where he batted .152 with one double. He was promoted to the Dayton Dragons of the Class A Midwest League on June 30.[21][22] He hit .329 with seven home runs for Dayton.[23][24]

Senzel began the 2017 season with the Daytona Tortugas of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League, and was promoted to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos of the Class AA Southern League in June.[25] He posted a combined .321 batting average with 14 home runs, 65 RBIs, and a .905 OPS in 119 games between Daytona and Pensacola.[26]

Senzel began 2018 with the Louisville Bats of the Class AAA International League. On June 23, 2018, it was revealed that Senzel's 2018 season ended after he required surgery to repair a torn ligament on his right index finger.[27] Upon his return from injury, Senzel told new Reds' manager David Bell, that he was preparing to play center field.[28]

The Reds allowed Senzel to play center field in Spring Training with a chance to compete with Scott Schebler for the starting role.[29] He had a .308 with a .300 on-base percentage and a .462 slugging percentage.[30] Despite his performance, the Reds elected to send Senzel to minor league camp.[31] Senzel's agent assumed that the service-time rules in baseball was the majority influence on the team's decision; if Senzel were to play 12 days in the minors before being promoted to the majors, the Reds would receive another year of club control.[32] Just three days later, Senzel sprained his ankle during a minor league game.[33] In eight games with Louisville, Senzel hit one home run and batted .257.[34]

Cincinnati Reds

On May 3, 2019, Senzel was called up to the majors by the Reds.[35][36] He made his major league debut that day at Great American Ballpark, going 1-for-5 two strikeouts and two walks.[37] Senzel's first hit was a slow-roller to third that he beat out off the San Francisco Giants' Tony Watson.[38] Senzel hit his first major league home run on May 4, off Giants' Dereck Rodríguez.[39] His second and third home runs came two days later at home against the Giants off Drew Pomeranz.[40] Senzel finished the month of May with a .279 batting average, four home runs, 12 RBIs, and 12 walks.

On September 12, 2019, Senzel was placed on the injured list with a torn labrum.[41] In 104 games of his first season in the Majors, Senzel batted .256 with 12 home runs, 20 doubles, and 42 RBIs.

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References
  1. Blackerby, Mike (July 6, 2012). "Farragut infielder Nick Senzel commits to Georgia". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  2. "Georgia baseball inks eight more to close out early signing period". www.redandblack.com. RedAndBlack.com. November 28, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  3. "Cutting Room Floor: Nick Senzel - Vols Beat". Knoxblogs.com. February 17, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  4. Dustin Dopirak (June 8, 2016). "Vols' Nick Senzel going from walk-on to top draft choice". www.knoxnews.com. USA Today. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  5. "Tennessee Freshman Nick Senzel Takes a Swing at DH". News Sentinel. April 3, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2018 – via Online Research Library: Questia.
  6. "Nick Senzel named freshman All-American". www.wbir.com. WBIR. June 4, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  7. "Senzel Named Perfect Game All-American". www.utsports.com. University of Tennessee Athletics. June 29, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  8. "Nick Senzel 2014 ABL". www.abl_wtt.wttbaseballl.pointstreak.com. Alaska Baseball League. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  9. Dopirak, Dustin (June 10, 2016). "Tennessee's Nick Senzel taken by Cincinnati Reds with No. 2 pick". Knoxnews.com. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  10. "Brewster Whitecaps' Slugger Senzel Named Cape League MVP, Top Prospect". CapeCod.com – Cape Cod News – Cape Cod Events. August 4, 2015.
  11. "Cape League names Nick Senzel MVP". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  12. "Golden Spikes Award 2016 Candidates". www.usabaseball.com. USA Baseball. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  13. "Senzel Named Perfect Game All-American". www.utsports.com. University of Tennessee Athletics. June 29, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  14. "MLB.com 2016 Prospect Watch". www.mlb.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  15. Matt Gelb (June 3, 2016). "Phillies could make safe draft pick with Senzel". www.philly.com. Philadelphia Media Network (Digital), LLC. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  16. C. Trent Rosecrans (June 7, 2016). "No question Tennessee's Nick Senzel can hit, but will Reds pick him?". www.cincinnati.com. USA Today. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  17. Rosecrans, C. Trent (June 9, 2016). "Reds draft Nick Senzel with No. 2 pick". cincinnati.com. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  18. Sheldon, Mark (May 24, 2018). "Reds pick third baseman Nick Senzel at No. 2 | MLB.com". M.mlb.com. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  19. Dopirak, Dustin (June 9, 2016). "Tennessee's Nick Senzel taken by Cincinnati Reds with No. 2 pick". knoxnews.com. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  20. Rosecrans, C. Trent. "Reds agree to deal with Nick Senzel, No. 2 overall draft pick". Cincinnati. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  21. Buchanan, Zach (July 3, 2016). "Nick Senzel, Chris Okey big part of Reds' future in Dayton". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  22. Doug Gray (June 30, 2018). "Nick Senzel & Chris Okey promoted". www.redsminorleagues.com. RedsMinorLeagues.com. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  23. "Nick Senzel Stats, Highlights, Bio | MiLB.com Stats | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Milb.com. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  24. Gary Schatz (March 14, 2018). "Cincinnati Reds: Top prospect Senzel getting some reps at shortstop". www.daytondailynews.com. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  25. 6:21 p.m. ET June 21, 2017 (June 21, 2017). "Reds promote Shed Long, Nick Senzel to Class AA Pensacola". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  26. "Nick Senzel Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  27. "Nick Senzel out for 2018 with right index finger injury". MLB. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  28. Josh Norris (December 10, 2018). "Reds' Nick Senzel Offers To Play Center Field". www.baseballamerica.com. Baseball America Enterprises. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  29. "Reds' Scott Schebler: Competing for center field job". www.cbssports.com. CBS Interactive. February 21, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  30. "Nick Senzel". www.mlb.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  31. John Boyle (March 22, 2019). "Cincinnati Reds reassign top prospect Senzel to minor league camp". www.daytondailynews.com. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  32. Bill Baer (March 22, 2019). "Agent: Nick Senzel's reassigment 'egregious case of service time manipulation'". www.mlb.nbcsports.com. NBC Universal. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  33. Bob Nightengale (March 25, 2019). "Cincinnati Reds top prospect Nick Senzel out multiple weeks with a sprained ankle". www.cincinnati.com. USA Today. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  34. "Nick Senzel". www.baseballamerica.com. Baseball America Enterprises. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  35. Aaron Michael (May 3, 2019). "Nick Senzel To Make Major League Debut". Red Reporter. SB Nation. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  36. John Fay (May 3, 2019). "Cincinnati Reds called up Nick Senzel because they need him". www.cincinnati.com. USA Today. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  37. Mike Axisa (May 3, 2019). "Giants spoil Nick Senzel's debut with epic eight-run comeback against Reds". www.cbssports.com. CBS Sports Interactive. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  38. Mark Sheldon (May 4, 2019). "Nick Senzel makes MLB debut". www.mlb.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  39. Kerry Crowley (May 4, 2019). "Pillar robs one homer, Reds blast five others, Giants crushed in Cincinnati". www.mercurynews.com. MediaNews Group, Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  40. Joey Kay (May 6, 2019). "Bees circle, Senzel homers twice as Reds swarm Giants 12-4". www.washingtonpost.com. WP Company LLC. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  41. Bob Nightengale (September 12, 2019). "Cincinnati Reds rookie Nick Senzel out for season with a torn labrum, may need surgery". wwww.cincinnati.com. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
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