Cincinnati Reds: Scooter Gennett will have an immediate impact

With the imminent return of Scooter Gennett to the Cincinnati Reds lineup, what is the immediate impact to an offense that is near the bottom of the NL?

While there has not been an official announcement, there is growing speculation that Scooter Gennett will rejoin the Cincinnati Reds by the end of next week. While we can debate what roster moves will take place and how some of his teammates will find playing time, what can’t be disputed is how Scooter’s return could be the shot in the arm this offense needs.

Gennett’s rehab assignment in Daytona is underway with him appearing in two games thus far for the Tortugas and going 1-for-7 with a strikeout and a walk. Gennett is scheduled to head to Triple-A Louisville next before making his way back to the big league club.

Prior to Wednesday’s walk-off win and last night’s dismantling of the Milwaukee Brewers, the 2019 edition of the Cincinnati Reds had lost 25 games by two runs or less. This is obviously a tribute to a much improved Reds pitching staff, which is now sporting a 3.55 ERA, but also an indictment of an underperforming Reds offense, which is only hitting .232.

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The Cincinnati Reds are near the bottom of the National League in batting average (14th), on-base-percentage (12th), SLG (12th) and OPS (13th). Needless to say, an injection of Scooter Gennett’s bat is more than needed if these Reds expect to get in the playoff hunt.

Looking at Gennett’s slash line alone, this Cincinnati Reds offense will statistically improve. He is a career .289 hitter with plenty of pop in the bat. Gennett has 85 career home runs and 349 RBIs. Of Scooter’s 85 homers, 50 have come as a member of the Reds. If Gennett can repeat his prior two seasons in his hometown, this offense will certainly improve upon its deficient stats.

It is worth noting that Gennett got out off the blocks a little slow in 2018. While he batted .298 in April, he only hit two home runs with 14 runs knocked in. The remainder of 2018 were along the lines of his 2017 season, as he finished the season with very strong .310 batting average, 23 home runs, and 92 RBIs.

Scooter Gennett made the first All-Star appearance of his six-year MLB career last season. Point being, some pumping of the brakes may be needed, as we may not see “Scooter-like numbers” until late July or early August as he gets reacclimated from being out of baseball for these past few months.

https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1140787669137575936

Like many Reds fans, I was absolutely giddy following the December 21st trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a multitude of reasons. Being able to part ways with Homer Bailey was enough, no matter who the team got in return. Keep in mind that Alex Wood was the real cornerstone of this trade for the Cincinnati Reds.

To be able to insert the bat of Yasiel Puig into what many already knew to be a potent Reds lineup had visions of church league softball scores dancing in our heads. That obviously has not played out as planned (see stats above). A lot of that certainly can be attributed to the absence of Gennett’s bat in the lineup.

Of late though, both Puig and Votto are beginning to hit closer to their historical stat lines of .274 and .309 respectively. Nick Senzel continues to come up with clutch hits, while Jesse Winker is hitting much better over the past few weeks, as his average in June is .307.

Eugenio Suarez will not remain in his recent slump. While I am giving some caution to how quickly Scooter will contribute, there is a growing sense of optimism that this offense and this Reds team are very close to turning a significant corner during the second half of this season.

With his contract set to expire at the end of the season and this three-month injury setback, I do not see Scooter being traded at the trade deadline. Reds fans need to hope he hits the ground running as none of us know what the Reds’ front office will choose to do in 2020 and beyond. It may be more of a matter of his contract lapsing or perhaps a team friendly deal being reached to extend him for a few more seasons.

No matter which side of the aisle you sit on that debate, the Cincinnati Reds are a much better baseball team with Scooter Gennett in the lineup versus not having their lefty slugger on the field. Here’s to us seeing Scooter contributing in a significant way sooner rather than later.