Cincinnati Reds CF Nick Senzel out for season with torn labrum

The roller-coaster rookie season for Cincinnati Reds starlet Nick Senzel is officially over, it appears. After the team’s SNAFU decision to send him to the minors to begin the year for service time manipulation, the subsequent ankle injury that cost him a month, the migraine issues, and the conversion on the fly from IF to OF, it appears the shoulder issue that has plagued him of late is more serious than once thought.

According to The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans, Senzel has a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and will not play again in the 2019 season.

That’s not just devastating news, it’s an injury that isn’t just a simple heal, usually. So, the 2016 1st round pick of the Reds is going to have a rather long road to get back to full health for 2020, and for the second consecutive year will have his season cut short and enter the off-season with rehab needed - he busted a finger while in AAA last year and needed to work his way back to full speed last year, too.

There were plenty of highlights in the rookie’s 24 year old season, but he didn’t quite have the franchise-altering instant impact many of us hoped we’d see. He’ll finish his initial foray into big league play with a .256/.315/.427 line in 414 PA, with 12 dingers, 20 doubles, and 14 steals, as well as with infinite more experience in CF than he had entering the season.

The question now, I suppose, is how a busted labrum in his throwing arm will impact his ability to throw the ball from CF, and whether that might prompt an alteration in off-season plans for the Reds as they look to further augment their roster. 2B, of course, doesn’t need the kind of arm strength that CF does, usually, and Senzel does have ample experience playing there in his college and minor league career.

Ah, heck...now I’m just despondently spit-balling. Get well soon, Nick, and let’s hope none of this impacts what should still be a promising 2020 for all parties involved.