Nick finally had his opening night with Reds starting in his first Major League Game since being drafted second in the first round what now seems years ago. Being a highly ranked Draft Pick can be difficult with the expectations and the fans wanting him on the Big Team soon. Everything looked as if this would have happened last year but minor injuries kept getting in the way. All of that was put to rest as Nick was introduced and made his way onto the field at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The first of many times of what we hope will be a long and successful career in Major League Baseball.
Check out the link below. It is several videos and interviews of Nicks Nite! Watching the interviews and reading articles, Nick is handling the pressure and exctiment well. Good first night of many to come!!
https://www.mlb.com/news/nick-senzel-makes-mlb-debut
“We want an injection of energy to this team,” Reds President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams said. “We want to help that outfield defense a little bit. We want to help the offense. We think Nick is ready to do that. He put in some good work in spring training and the minor leagues. We would have liked him to get as much experience in center field. We think he’s progressing quickly. Then with the situation here, it created a little more urgency, so we got a little more aggressive with his promotion.”
In other words, if the Reds’ offense was humming along and they had better defensive options in center field, Senzel might have gotten more than eight games at Triple-A.
Senzel, 23, exudes confidence. A couple of quotes from him:
- How do you know you’re ready? “I knew I was ready last year. But obviously it got cut short (by injury). I’m here now, and I couldn’t be happier.”
- On batting second: “It doesn’t make a difference to me. Joey will just get on, and I will hit him in.”
Reds Manager David Bell likes that Senzel believes in himself so much.
“It’s part of what makes him so good,” Bell said. “He expects a lot of himself, being determined to do whatever he can. His mindset is he’s excited about our team. He wants to contribute to winning. I think that keeps things in perspective. It takes the pressure off him as an individual player and puts it on the game and trying to win the game. I think that mindset is going to serve him very well, put the focus a little bit off him.”