Reds: 3 players who could lose their roster spot when Nick Senzel returns

Who will lose their roster spot when Nick Senzel returns to the Reds?

Nick Senzel has missed a considerable amount of playing time this season due to injury; it feels like we’ve written that statement before. The former first-round pick has struggled to stay on the field during his first three major league seasons, but Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell expects the former University of Tennessee standout to return to the team very soon.

Senzel has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville for nearly two weeks. He along with Mike Moustakas began their quest to return back on July 30th. Moustakas has since returned to the lineup and is splitting duty with Eugenio Suarez at third base.

Senzel’s return is a bit different, as it appears as though Cincinnati will not use the 26-year-old exclusively as an outfielder. This season, for the first time in his major league career, Senzel has seen considerable playing time on the infield dirt. The former No. 2 overall pick played third base in college and spent most of his minor league career at either second or third base.

While the first week-plus of Senzel’s rehab assignment saw him playing center field, yesterday the former Farragut High School graduate started the game at shortstop for the Louisville Bats. Bell plans to deploy Senzel all over the diamond when he returns to the Cincinnati Reds’ lineup.

There’s not a lot of wiggle room with the Reds current roster. While Cincinnati is currently carrying nine relievers, none of them have minor-league options remaining. The Redlegs do have an abundance of outfielders at this time, but most of them appear indispensable or no longer have minor league options. So who loses their roster spot when Nick Senzel returns to the lineup?