Cincinnati Reds: The healthy-version of Derek Dietrich will make the team

Cincinnati Reds utility player Derek Dietrich admitted to playing when, perhaps, he shouldn’t have last season. If healthy, Dietrich will make the roster.

I’ll admit it, I was severely bummed when the Cincinnati Reds released Derek Dietrich earlier this offseason. While I completely understood the reasons behind it, I still hated to see it. However, I was ecstatic when Dietz was signed to a minor-league deal a couple weeks ago. If healthy, I can visually guarantee you that Dietrich is making the Opening Day roster.

Derek Dietrich put together a terrific month of May last season. After a pinch-hit homer on Opening Day endeared Dietrich to the Cincinnati fanbase, the left-handed slugger went on a tear in the second month of the season. Dietz slashed .304/.400/.841 with 12 home runs and 22 RBIs last May.

Unfortunately, that level of brilliance at the plate was unsustainable. Dietrich’s batting average plummeted over the remainder of the season, dropping from .260 to .187 after he went just 15-for-128 (.117) from July 1st through the end of the season. Dietrich actually had more hit-by-pitches (17) than he did hits during that span.

Dietrich spent some time on the injured list with shoulder soreness, and actually had arthroscopic surgery at the end of September. I’ve maintained ever since Dietrich’s performance began to suffer that the Ohio native just wasn’t himself and was playing hurt. As it turns out, Dietrich admitted as much to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon:

"“It’s cool to be a tough guy and to battle and there are times for that, something like [my bruised wrist]. But if you can’t do your job effectively, then it’s not necessarily the best situation. All that being said, I feel 100 percent healthy with my shoulder and back to what I’m capable of doing as far as physically.”"

While Dietrich didn’t come right and say it, if you read between the lines, I think it’s safe to surmise that he was playing hurt last season. We saw a similar plunge in production from an injured Scott Schebler last season. After owing a .777 OPS and 17 home runs in 2018, Schebler couldn’t even hit his weight last year and ended his season on the injured list while playing in the minors.

Dietrich, when healthy, is a tough out for opposing pitchers. He’s also perfectly comfortable coming off the bench as a pinch hitter. At this stage of his career, Dietrich’s best role is that of a utility player. While Dietz can play the outfield, it sounds as though David Bell wants to keep him in the infield. Here’s what Bell had to say about Dietrich via MLB.com:

"“We knew what kind of hitter he was going into last year. The defense, I think we were really pleasantly surprised with the job he did at second base and first base. We know we can play the outfield. With our situation, if he is on our team, it would probably be more at those two positions — second base and first base. He gets the job done. He really does.”"

With Kyle Farmer all but locked in as one of the Reds utility infielders heading into 2020, it would seem that the other utility infielder role will come down to Derek Josh VanMeter. VanMeter still has two minor-league options remaining, and I would argue that he’d benefit more in terms of development if he played every day at Triple-A Louisville.

Through one week of spring games, VanMeter has outhit Dietrich three to one, but that one hit from Dietz cleared the fence. These two will likely be battling throughout out camp, but I’m going to give the nod to Derek Dietrich unless he proves that his poor performance down the stretch was unrelated to his shoulder injury.