2 players the Reds mishandled and 1 who's on the right track

When it comes to player development, the Cincinnati Reds seem to lag behind. So many promising prospects have passed through the clubhouse of Great American Ball Park only to stumble along the way.

Now, not every player who struggles does so because the team mishandled his development. Some players just don't have what it takes to be a major leaguer. Other times, injuries can play a key role in a prospect failng to meet his full potential.

Recently, however, there have been a couple examples of players who've been mishandled by the Cincinnati Reds management. There's also an up-and-coming prospect who appears to be in the correct path.

The Reds mishandled outfielder Nick Senzel.

This one isn't completely on the Cincinnati Reds, as Nick Senzel has done himself no favors due to his inability to stay healthy. But the Reds really screwed up Senzel's development the moment they moved him to the outfield.

This is a narrative that has been repeated ad nauseam, but let's rehash it one more time. The Reds used the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft on third baseman Nick Senzel. Throughout his entire minor league career, Senzel played third base. He also saw time at second base, but was primarily a third baseman.

The Reds then decided to non-tender outfielder Billy Hamilton prior to the 2019 season and inserted Senzel as the team's centerfielder. That was, of course, after manipulating his service time early in the season.

Nick Senzel is athletic enough to play nearly anywhere on the diamond, and the Cincinnati Reds finally appear willing to let him do it - Senzel is being groomed to be the team's super utility player in 2023. But the Reds had the perfect opportunity to keep Senzel on the infield dirt prior to 2020 and they didn't do it.

After trading Scooter Gennett, Cincinnati could have quite simply moved Senzel from center field to second base and allow the newly-signed Shogo Akiyama to take over in the outfield. But no, the Reds decided to sign Mike Moustakas (a career third baseman) to play the keystone. Senzel was then kept in the outfield.

Has playing on the outfield grass and crashing into walls shortened Nick Senzel's career? Seeing as how Senzel has ended three of his first four seasons on the IL, most fans would say yes. Let's hope that Senzel will remain healthy in 2023 and find some traction in his new role.

The Reds mishandled infielder Jose Barrero.

This one still has a chance to turn around, but the Cincinnati Reds did Jose Barrero no favors with how the club introduced him to the major leagues. Barrero made his MLB debut during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season after Cincinnati thought they were out of the playoff race.

The Reds 2020 squad was poised to compete for the division crown. After adding Nick Castellanos, Mike Moustakas, Wade Miley, and Shogo Akiyama to go alongside Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez, Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo, and Jesse Winker the Reds looked like a team that could win the NL Central.

The coronavirus pandemic then rained on the Reds parade, put a stop to spring training, cut the 162-game season down to just a 60-game sprint, and increased the playoff pool to 16 teams. The Reds were basically out of contention midway through, and for lack of better words, threw in the towel.

Jose Barrero was called up to the big leagues and received some playing time at shortstop in place of Freddy Galvis. Remarkably, however, just a few games into Barrero's call-up, the Redlegs turned a corner and were back in the playoff hunt.

Barrero was quickly removed from the starting lineup as Cincinnati made its march toward the postseason. Barrero played in just 24 games after having never set foot on a Double-A or Triple-A field. Barrero, like most players who were skipped ahead by two levels of minor league baseball, looked lost and hit just .206 in 68 plate appearances.

The following season, Barrero was deployed to Double-A Chattanooga and after putting up good numbers for the Lookouts, received a promotion to Triple-A Louisville. In August, Barrero was called up to the big leagues once again. This time, rather than playing him exclusively at shortstop, the Reds decided to move Barrero around to second base and center field.

In 2022, Jose Barrero struggled mightily at the plate after offseason hamate surgery. His strikeout-rate was near 40-percent after a late-season call-up, and the shortstop looked lost at the plate.

The Cincinnati Reds, who now have more shortstops than they know what do with, have forced Barrero to split time between shortstop and center field. It's no wonder that Barrero has little success in the major leagues after watching how the Reds completely botched his development.