Nick Senzel Heeds Advice From The Hit King

CINCINNATI—The Reds’ future and past sat together at a table last month during RedsFest. There, the man with the most hits in the history of Major League Baseball told the team’s top prospect something that sounded counterintuitive.

“I was talking to Pete Rose—it’s easy for him to say, but he said the easiest level to hit in is the big leagues,” third baseman Nick Senzel said. “It’s easy for him to say because he got over a billion hits, but he just said the lights are better, pitchers are better. It’s comforting to hear that from him.”

If that’s the case for Senzel, the No. 2 pick last year, he has quite the future ahead of him, because his pro debut couldn’t have looked easier.

Senzel, 21, played 10 games at Rookie-level Billings as a truncated spring training before moving to low-Class A Dayton, where he had hits in nine of his first 11 games. He finished his 58-game stint in the Midwest League hitting .329/.415/.567 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs, as well as 15 steals.

“The season was kind of a complete approach,” general manager Dick Williams said. “We saw the offense we wanted to see, the defense that we hoped to see. We saw the off-the-field, the leadership and hard work and effort.”

While Senzel was considered the best college hitter in June’s draft, what surprised many once he hit the minors was his power. Senzel hit 13 home runs in three years at Tennessee. That made his power potential sticking point for some pre-draft evaluators and observers looking at him as a top draft pick.

When he got to Dayton, Senzel showed his power, first with four doubles in his first three games and later with a total of seven home runs, including a three-game stretch with homers in each game.

“I don’t even think about it,” he said. “I was in an interview with (Jesse) Winker and they were talking to him about his power production, too, it wasn’t as high as they’d like it to be. Who cares? If you’re getting on base, that’s all that matters. That’s how you score runs. Home runs are cool and everything . . . I don’t think it matters, as long as you’re getting on base and scoring runs.”

RED HOTS

• Third baseman Tanner Rahier has been cleared to resume swinging after suffering a broken wrist in July.

• Righthander Alejandro Chacin limited batters to a .207 batting average against in 15 innings over 16 appearances in the Venezuelan Winter League.

— C. Trent Rosecrans covers the Reds for the Cincinnati Enquirer