Cincinnati Reds: Phillip Ervin’s 6-hit game secures his roster spot

Phillip Ervin’s roster spot with the Cincinnati Reds could best be described as tenuous. After a 6-hit performances last night, he’s not going anywhere.

When you do something that only three players in team history have done before, you’re going to be rewarded for it. After bouncing around between Triple-A Louisville and the majors this season, a 6-hit performance from Phillip Ervin should cement his spot on this Cincinnati Reds roster for the remainder of the season.

Only three players in team history, Tony Cuccinello (1931), Ernie Lombardi (1937), and Walker Cooper (1949) have accomplished what Ervin did last night. That’s right, Ervin did something that has happened only three times and the last time it happened was over 70 years ago.

Each of those three players who’d previous accumulated six hits during their tenure with the Reds went to multiple All-Star Games and one is in the Hall of Fame. That’s pretty good company to keep and hopefully some foreshadowing of what’s to come for the Reds outfielder.

Phillip Ervin has been on fire of late. The outfielder was called up from Triple-A Louisville on June 15th and hasn’t looked back since. In 19 games, including 9 starts, Ervin has 22 hits in 46 at-bats (.478). He’s slashing .579/.579/.842 with 6 RBIs in his last 7 games.

Furthermore, Ervin has been obliterating left-handed pitching. Ervin, who turns 27-years old tomorrow, has an OPS of 1.369 against southpaws. I don’t care if Clayton Kershaw is on the mound, David Bell must have Ervin in the starting lineup when the team is facing left-handed pitching.

For the most part, that’s been Bell’s plan of late. Ervin’s hitting .458 against lefties, which dwarfs Jesse Winker‘s .171 batting average against southpaws. It’s no brainer going forward for Bell to platoon Ervin and Winker in left field depending on the matchup.

Ervin didn’t make the Cincinnati Reds 25-man roster out of Spring Training and has been sent back to the minors twice this season, only to be recalled after a few weeks of time in Triple-A. I highly doubt we’ll see Ervin return to Louisville this season, and depending on what happens at the trade deadline, Reds Country could see a lot more of Ervin as the season progresses.