Reds place Nick Senzel on injured list, promote top prospect Elly De La Cruz

The last time the Cincinnati Reds had a consensus Top 10 overall position prospect on the cusp of reshaping the big league lineup, he was a 3B named Nick Senzel. They opted to move him completely off the position, you’ll recall, and a litany of injuries in the years since his arrival have derailed a once-promising baseball career.

Looking at today’s news through that nostalgic lens adds another layer, in my eye. That news, of course, is that the Cincinnati Reds placed Senzel on the 10-day injured list due to a balky knee and promoted wunderkind prospect Elly De La Cruz to replace him on the active roster.

The Reds announced the transaction earlier on Tuesday.

Senzel had certainly not ‘taken off’ this year, or anything, but he had settled in as a mostly healthy regular, finally getting time at 3B as well as his rotational work across the OF. Now, it appears the timing of his latest injury is precisely the catalyst for the promotion of the most electric prospect the Reds have had in a generation (or longer), and the 3B role that he’d finally had a chance to participate in is going to head to someone else.

Whether that’s De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, or Jonathan India remains to be seen, but the mix that those four provide certainly provides cover for the entire infield for the time being. McLain has taken the bulk of the work since his call-up a month ago, but he deferred (to 2B) often to De La Cruz while the two were socking the cover off the ball for AAA Louisville.

The infield, for now and beyond, appears to be accounted for, and the #2 pick of the 2016 MLB Draft is now the odd man out due to injury once again.