No. 5 Overall Prospect Nick Senzel Promoted to Majors by Cincinnati Reds

After days of speculation, the Cincinnati Reds officially promoted top prospect Nick Senzel ahead of Friday's game against the San Francisco Giants.

Senzel is the No. 5 overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com. He has been among the top prospects in Cincinnati's farm system since being taken second overall in the 2016 draft.

The 6'1", 205-pounder was viewed as arguably the top hitting prospect of his draft class and has only backed up those projections. He has quickly worked his way through the minor leagues, hitting .312/.388/.508 over parts of four seasons.

After slashing .321/.391/.514 between High-A and Double-A in 2017, Senzel appeared to be in a position to potentially reach the big leagues last year. However, it's been hard for the organization to find a position for him.

Senzel played third base at the University of Tennessee, but the Reds signed All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suarez to a seven-year extension in March 2018. That led the team to shift Senzel to second, where Scooter Gennett's emergence the last two seasons resulted in an All-Star selection in 2018. 

After Cincinnati declined to tender Gold Glove candidate Billy Hamilton a contract during the offseason, that left a hole in center field. And that's where the Reds plan to use Senzel at least for 2019, as Gennett—who has been sidelined since March due to a groin injury—is in the final year of his contract.

The 23-year-old proved his bat was ready for the show after hitting .308 during spring training. However, given he had no prior experience in the outfield as a professional, Cincinnati opted to send him to the minors to start the season. That decision did not sit well with Senzel's agent, Joel Wolfe. He said in a statement:

"I don't believe I've ever made public statements on this issue in my career, but I feel compelled to do so in this case where it feels like a simply egregious case of service-time manipulation. 

"We are well aware of the mandate from ownership for the Reds to win this year -- and this seems to fly in the face of it. The NL Central was decided by one game last year. Every game matters. This is a shortsighted move that may be frugal now but could cost them dearly later."

Unfortunately for both sides, Senzel sprained his right ankle just days later, preventing him from getting a better feel for the outfield. He did not make his 2019 debut at Triple-A until April 23.

Senzel has also missed time in each of the past two seasons due to vertigo, and his 2018 campaign was cut short due to a finger injury.

Now that he is healthy, though, and shown he is capable in center, he will finally get his shot at the majors.

Cincinnati is hoping the promotion can spark an offense that has struggled to start the season. The Reds rank last in the majors in average (.207), 29th in on-base percentage (.281) and 26th in runs scored. They have already been shut out five times through 31 games and have scored just one run in their last two games.

That lack of offense has Reds (13-18) in last place of the National League Central despite plus-10 run differential, largely due to the pitching staff having the second-best ERA (3.21) in baseball.