Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings September 27, 2017

Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings September 27, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1980-Johnny Bench ties Bill Dickey’s catcher record of playing in 100 or more games for 13 consecutive seasons MLB.COM Cozart's swat provides Reds with spark in loss By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | 12:54 AM ET + 2 COMMENTS

MILWAUKEE -- Reds shortstop Zack Cozart fouled off the first two pitches against Brewers reliever Josh Hader to get mired in a 0-2 count on Tuesday. Even with his team trailing by three runs and Hader being a tough lefty, Cozart had no plans to go down quietly.

In what became a 7-6 Reds loss, a one-run game that Milwaukee had to grind out to keep its playoff hopes alive, Cozart provided the at-bat of the game and the spark that got Cincinnati back in it. He turned that 0-2 count into a 10-pitch at-bat before slugging a solo home run to left-center field in the seventh inning.

"He's one of those, you know, lefties that creates kind of a weird angle," Cozart said of Hader. "His fastball, even though it may say 93-94 [mph], it actually looks firmer than that. I just tried to not do too much. He's throwing more offspeed tonight. In the past, he was like 95-percent fastball. He threw a couple of changeups that at-bat. I was trying not to do too much, I was not trying to worry about getting the head out. I was just trying to battle."

On the third pitch from Hader, Cozart looked at a fastball for ball one, then fouled off two fastballs to stay alive. Hader missed on a pair of changeups and Cozart fouled off the ninth pitch -- a fastball. Pitch 10 was a 94-mph fastball over the middle of the plate.

It was the 24th homer for Cozart, extending his career high. He has seven homers for September, the most he's hit in any month of his career.

Cozart, whose previous career high was 15 homers in 2016, made an adjustment during Spring Training that sparked the improvement with his all-around hitting.

"I'm just most surprised by how a simple mechanical change of putting my bat on my shoulder freed up not only my power, but also seeing the ball better in general, which is still kind of crazy to me," Cozart said. "But 100 percent that's the reason I feel better up there, more consistent, because of that. My mind's not boggled by anything. I'm just up there trying to make a good swing."

It was during a Reds-Indians Cactus League game when Cozart saw Francisco Lindor resting his bat on his shoulder to begin his at- bats. It's something teammate Joey Votto has also done. And now Cozart is seeing others do the same, such as rookie Phillip Ervin.

"It takes the whole rhythm and the thinking about your hands out of it because you just sit them there. It's obviously been huge for me," Cozart said. "I talked to [Ervin] when he first came up and I said, 'Man, when did you start doing that?' Because he looks way smoother and looks like he's taking tougher pitches."

If Cozart can hit one more homer, the Reds will set a single-season franchise record with six players with at least 25.

"I feel like almost every team we've faced this year says, 'Man, you guys' lineup is tough to get through. You have good at-bats,'" Cozart said. "Joey's rubbed off on a lot of us in that we don't want to give away at-bats. There's been some games out of hand this year and it's easy to go through the motions and roll over to short and get the game over with, but guys are consistently working on having the good at-bats and getting a good swing off and all of a sudden, we battle back like we did tonight."

Schebler hits 1 of 3 HRs, but rally falls short By Adam McCalvy and Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | 1:24 AM ET + 16 COMMENTS

MILWAUKEE -- Domingo Santana and the Brewers had no illusions that the Reds would just roll over and let them march to a Wild Card spot.

Santana's three-run homer keyed a four-run first inning for the Brewers, who spent the rest of Tuesday night playing keep-away in a 7-6 win over the relentless Reds at Miller Park. Three times, the Reds pulled within a run. Three times, the Brewers held on -- and held their ground in the chase for a postseason spot.

"It's been a real challenge to beat them all year," Santana said. "I'm glad we got that one."

Scott Schebler hit a two-run home run for the Reds in the second inning and Zack Cozart and Jesse Winker hit two-out solo homers in the seventh and eighth as the Reds kept coming. By fending off those comebacks, the Brewers stayed 1 1/2 games behind the Rockies for the second NL Wild Card spot and one game ahead of the Cardinals. All three clubs won Tuesday night.

Santana's homer and the first of Stephen Vogt's career-high three doubles highlighted a two-out, four-run opening-inning rally against Reds rookie Deck McGuire, who pitched three innings in his first Major League start.

Striking early has been the Brewers' habit all season. They have outscored opponents 110-67 in the first inning this season.

"It goes almost double when you have a young pitcher out there making his first big league start," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "You don't want him to get into his comfort zone. We didn't let him get comfortable and breathe. That was a big key."

The lead grew to 6-2 in the third, but with starter Zach Davies in a jam and fighting a bad head cold, Counsell opted to tap his bullpen with two on and nobody out in the fifth, so Josh Hader was awarded the win in relief.

The Reds, who swept the Brewers in a three-game series in Cincinnati from Sept. 4-6, again proved pesky. After center fielder Keon Broxton's diving grab to open the ninth -- he needed to cover 71 feet in 4.1 seconds to make the four-star catch, according to Statcast™ -- Cincinnati put the tying run in scoring position against Brewers closer Corey Knebel. The Brewers' All-Star closer struck out former teammate Scooter Gennett and retired Eugenio Suarez on a flyout down the right-field line for his 38th save.

"I feel like we battled the whole game. We just came up a little short," Schebler said. "We had a good run there in the ninth inning to put up some runs. They're a good team. We're never just going to give in. Our at-bats kind of displayed that tonight."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Out at home: Schebler's two-run homer cut the Brewers' lead in half in the second, and they were threatening for more when the next batter, Adam Duvall, singled with nobody out. Duvall tried to score from first base on Tucker Barnhart's double to left-center field, and Brewers center fielder Brett Phillips relayed the ball to shortstop Orlando Arcia, who fired a throw home that pulled catcher Vogt up the third-base line. Vogt was able to catch the ball and apply a tag in one motion for the first out of the inning, and Davies retired the next two batters to end the threat with no further runs.

"I know it was the second inning, but it's the play of the game," Counsell said. "It squashes that inning, makes that inning kind of go away. If we don't get an out there, they get a run and there's a lot happening. … Stephen made a heck of a catch, really. To make the catch and hold on was a heck of a play."

"I don't think he's trying to make something happen," Reds manager Bryan Price said of Hatcher sending Duvall. "He knows there's nobody out there. Unfortunately as those plays develop, what looks like the guy will score easily sometimes turn into that situation where it's, 'Hey, this might be a close play.' There's no way he's trying to force the issue there, even with the pitcher coming up."

Gennett's misfire: Phillips' routine bouncer to Gennett at second base with two on and two out in the third should have ended the inning. But the former Brewers infielder's throw was off-target for a costly two-run error that allowed Phillips to get all the way to third base while Milwaukee extended its lead to 6-2.

Cozart grinds it out: Hader retired the first eight Reds he faced on 30 pitches with six strikeouts, and he was one pitch away from striking out the side in the seventh inning when he put Cozart in an 0-2 count. But the All-Star shortstop battled his way back into one of the best at-bats of the night, fouling his way to a 10th pitch -- Hader's 40th -- and hitting it into the Brewers' bullpen in left- center field for a solo homer that made it a two-run game. Hader never got that third out in the inning, and the Reds tacked on another run after Anthony Swarzak took over to cut Milwaukee's lead to 6-5. Hader's 49 pitches were the most he'd thrown since Aug. 12, putting his availability for the rest of the series in question. More >

"I was trying to find that last strike, basically, but I left one pitch over the middle," Hader said. "But I kept the team in it, and that's the biggest thing."

QUOTABLE

"It never seems like a game is under control at this ballpark. It's strange, because we play in a pretty good offensive ballpark, as well. When we come here, it's craziness. It's lunacy. It was a 6-2 Brewers lead and then here we come. We made a really nice push there." -- Price, on the slugfests the Reds and Brewers have had at Miller Park this season

WHAT'S NEXT

Reds: Homer Bailey will make his 18th and final start of the season when the series at Miller Park continues at 8:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Bailey is 1-1 with a 7.07 ERA in his three starts vs. the Brewers in 2017, but he allowed three earned runs on six hits over six-plus innings against them on Sept. 4 in a Reds win.

Brewers: Brandon Woodruff's eighth big league start will be his first against the Reds. He already pitched once on this final homestand, allowing four earned runs on five hits in five innings against the Cubs on Friday night, taking a no-decision in a 10- inning loss. First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CT.

Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.

Adam McCalvy has covered the Brewers for MLB.com since 2001. Follow him on Twitter @AdamMcCalvy and like him on Facebook.

Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Storen undergoes Tommy John surgery Right-hander not expected to pitch next season By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | September 26th, 2017 + 3 COMMENTS

MILWAUKEE -- Reds reliever Drew Storen had Tommy John surgery on Tuesday in Cincinnati, and the soon-to-be free agent is unlikely to pitch in the Majors again until 2019.

Reds medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek performed the procedure on Storen to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

"We got a very brief summation from Dr. Kremchek and he was very positive," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "Even on the short end of this this, it used to be a 9-12 month recovery. I think the industry has tried to increase the length of time between surgery and re-entry to at least big league competition, I imagine, due to success rates."

Storen, 30, was signed to a one-year, $3 million contract as a free agent in January. In 58 games for Cincinnati, he was 4-2 with a 4.45 ERA and one save. He had the fourth-most appearances for the bullpen this season.

Bailey to face Crew in final start of 2017 By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | 1:00 AM ET + 2 COMMENTS

As the Brewers try to spend the remaining days of the season battling to get the second National League Wild Card, they will have an eye on the out-of-town scoreboard and the Rockies. But they will also have their hands full with the Reds' lineup as their three- game series continues on Wednesday.

During Cincinnati's three-game sweep of the Brewers at Great American Ball Park from Sept. 4-6, they scored 21 runs.

"We did a good job this weekend holding a really good Cubs offense down. We did a good job against them all year," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "[The Reds are] a team we've struggled a little more holding down offensively. It is a good lineup, it's a balanced lineup. It has the toughest player to get out in the big leagues."

"Scooter Gennett?" a reporter cracked. Counsell smiled for a moment and kept talking. He, of course, was referring to Joey Votto.

"It's a team we've struggled with," Counsell said. "It's certainly a big part of it, us keeping them down with runs."

The Brewers will need more than just a few Rockies losses to continue their push toward a Wild Card spot. Counsell hopes to get contributions from everyone in the Brewers' lineup for it to be a good final week of the regular season.

"This is where we're going to have to count on a lot of the roster," Counsell said. "The bullpen is obviously going to play a big role in this. We're going to have to score runs, I think, especially during this week, during this series, specifically. I'm going to need to be able to mention a lot of names after this week to be able to say we had a good week."

Milwaukee will turn to right-hander Brandon Woodruff to start against Cincinnati veteran Homer Bailey. Woodruff is making his eighth start of the season and his career and will face the Reds for the first time.

Bailey will be making his 18th and final start of his truncated 2017 season that began with him having surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow in February, his third elbow surgery since 2014.

In three starts vs. Milwaukee this season, Bailey is 1-1 with a 7.07 ERA over 14 innings. In his last outing, on Sept. 4, he gave up three earned runs on six hits over six-plus innings with no walks and four strikeouts in the 5-4 Reds win.

Things to know about this game:

• Bailey is averaging 93.6 mph with his four-seam fastball this year, not far off his 94-mph average from 2009-14, before he missed most of the following two seasons due to injury. However, opponents are batting .380 off the pitch in '17, compared to a combined .261 from '09-14, when his season high was .296.

• During Friday's 5-4 loss to the Cubs in 10 innings, Woodruff gave up four earned runs on five hits over five innings with three walks and four strikeouts.

• With 220 home runs this season, the Brewers would have to go on a serious power surge over their final five games to catch their single-season franchise record of 231, set in 2007. This season's total is already the second most in club history.

Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Cincinnati Reds recap: Milwaukee Brewers take series opener C. Trent Rosecrans, [email protected] Published 11:04 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2017 | Updated 5:59 a.m. ET Sept. 27, 2017

The Reds bullpen gave up just one run in five innings, but that was the difference in Tuesday’s 7-6 loss to the Brewers at Miller Park.

"When you fall behind by that many, you really have to pitch perfect out of the bullpen and that's unfair," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "You can't ask your bullpen to cover that many innings without having a hiccup or two along the way. We were unable to pitch perfect out of the pen. However, we pitched pretty darn good and gave ourselves a chance to grab this game late, we just weren't able to get that big hit at the end."

It was the Reds' seventh straight loss, the fourth of those by just one run.

Box score: Brewers 7, Reds 6

Here are the main storylines from Tuesday’s game:

• McGuire goes three: Deck McGuire’s first big-league start started with a double and a walk.

McGuire, a former first-round pick of the Blue Jays, was one pitch away from getting out of the first unscathed after striking out Ryan Braun and Travis Shaw.

Unfortunately for McGuire, he didn’t get that one pitch, as Brewers’ right fielder Domingo Santana clobbered McGuire’s 24th pitch of the inning for a three-run homer.

McGuire would give up a double and RBI single before striking out Brett Phillips to end the inning.

"You fall behind big-league hitters and they're going to make you pay for it," McGuire said. "I just kept doing that tonight."

McGuire allowed two more runs in the third, but both were unearned as they scored on Scooter Gennett’s error that should have ended the inning.

Jose Peraza batted for McGuire in the top of the fourth.

"We've seen an awful lot of that from guys making their debut," Price said. "This is the only time he's taken the ball for us when he hasn't performed extremely well. I hate to say these things are expected, but they're not necessarily unexpected. I certainly expect the next time he gets the ball, he'll perform at a much higher level."

McGuire is scheduled to start the season finale at Wrigley Field on Sunday.

Ariel Hernandez threw two scoreless innings, followed by another by Luke Farrell. Lefty Wandy Peralta gave up a run on a hit and a walk in one inning and Michael Lorenzen pitched a perfect eighth inning.

• Four with 30: Scott Schebler’s two-run homer in the second was his 30th of the season, making him the third Reds player with 30 homers this season, joining Joey Votto (35) and Adam Duvall (31).

“I’m pretty proud of it. But at the end of the day, the inconsistency of my game is still a problem," Schebler said. "It’s a really cool feeling, it was a goal of mine. But I’ve been too inconsistent. I’ll have to get that fixed.”

The three Reds players with at least 30 ties the team record, achieved three other times – 1956, 1970 and 2007.

In 1956, Frank Robinson (38), Wally Post (36) and Ted Kluszewski (35) all had at least 30 home runs (Gus Bell finished with 29 and Ed Bailey with 28). Johnny Bench (45), Lee May (40) and Tony Perez (34) all had at least 30 in 1970 and Adam Dunn (40), Ken Griffey Jr. (30) and Brandon Phillips (30) did it in 2007.

• Cozart battles back: Shortstop Zack Cozart fell behind 0-2 to Brewers lefty Josh Hader in seventh, but battled back to work the count full before he hit a solo home run, his 24th of the season.

The Reds pushed across another run in the inning on an Eugenio Suarez single, pulling within a run at 6-5.

"Joey's rubbed off on a lot of us in that we don't want to give away at-bats," Cozart said. "There's been some games out of hand this year and it's easy to go through the motions and roll over to short and get the game over with, but guys are consistently working on having the good at-bats and getting a good swing off and all of a sudden, we battle back like we did tonight. I think that's why you see... we've had a pretty good year if that we get down, we don't just cave in and get the game over with quick. We try to battle back. We did that tonight, just not enough."

With one more home run this season, Cozart will be the sixth Reds player with more than 25 home runs, something no other Reds team in history can claim.

• Winker with another HR: Rookie Jesse Winker hit his seventh home run of the season with an eighth-inning solo shot off of Brewers right-hander Anthony Swarzak to bring the Reds back to within a run, 7-6.

It was Winker’s second pinch-hit home run of the season. He continues to show more power in the big leagues than he did in the minors, where he hit seven home runs in the last two seasons combined.

The homer was also the Reds' seventh pinch-hit home run of the season. The Reds didn't have a pinch-hit home run in all of 2016.

• Duvall out at the plate: After falling behind 4-0 in the first, the Reds rallied to score two in the top of the second on Schebler's homer, but nearly had more. Reds third base coach Billy Hatcher waved Adam Duvall around third to try to score from first on Tucker Barnhart's double.

Brewers center fielder Brett Phillips was able to cut the ball off before it bounced to the wall and got his relay in to shortstop Orlando Arcia. Arcia's throw home was up the third-base line, but catcher Stephen Vogt was able to catch it and make the tag for the first out of the inning.

"Unfortunately as those plays develop, what looks like the guy will score easily sometimes turn into that situation where it’s ‘hey, this might be a close play,'" Price said "There’s no way he’s trying to force the issue there, even with the pitcher coming up. We still have second and third and Billy (Hamilton) and Cozart are virtually assured at-bats. I’m sure he’s frustrated by it but if you do that position, those are the things that happen unfortunately. You wish you could turn back time but you can’t.”

Does Joey Votto think he should win MVP? C. Trent Rosecrans, [email protected] Published 6:39 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2017

MILWAUKEE – Joey Votto may very well be the best player in the National League, but he is unlikely to be the Most Valuable Player.

Speaking before Tuesday’s game against the Brewers, the Reds first baseman and 2010 National League Most Valuable Player was asked if the 2017 season is his best season yet.

“I still have six games to go,” Votto said. “Please ask me on the last day.”

Similarly, he says a lot can happen in the final week of the season in regards to the wide-open MVP race.

“In the American League, like I said, six games, a perfect example of the difference six games can make is Aaron Judge went from strong runner-up to the front-runner all in one week,” Votto said. “He had a fantastic week and all of a sudden he's setting rookie records and hitting 50 homers. Now, he has the momentum of the argument, I feel like.”

Votto entered Tuesday’s game third in both Baseball-Reference.com’s version of Wins Above Replacement (7.0) and in FanGraphs.com WAR (6.5). In the former, he trails the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton and the Nationals’ Max Scherzer, and he’s behind the Cubs’ Kris Bryant and the Nationals’ Anthony Rendon in the latter.

Votto also leads the majors in on-base percentage (.452) and walks (130). He’s also first in the National League in several advanced metrics, including weighted runs created (wRC+) with 164, weight on-base average (wOBA) at .426, on-base plus slugging (OPS) 1.024 and weighted on-base plus slugging (.167).

Working against him is that he’s on a last-place team, with the Reds at 66-90 and 22 games behind the Cubs before Tuesday’s games.

While there’s no clear-cut favorite among the playoff teams, the Cubs’ Bryant, the Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt, Rendon and Scherzer of the Nationals and the Rockies’ duo of Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon all have worthy resumes in addition to the success of their teams.

“If you're on a winning team and you're in the conversation for the best player, typically you win it,” Votto said, mentioning Bryant in 2016, Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates in 2013 and the Giants’ Buster Posey in 2012. “If there's no candidate on a winning team and the best player is on a losing team or a non-playoff qualifying team, then you have to play somewhere from 5-to-15 percent better than the best player on the winning team, depending on how many losses, how far back you are.

"For every loss behind, you have to play that much better.”

Last year, Mike Trout was that player. The Angels finished 21 games behind the Rangers in the American League West, but Trout was that much better.

“If you're in the mix and you're on a losing team, oftentimes even if you're the best player in the league, you don't have to win the award,” he said.

So, Votto was asked, do you think that’s right?

“You know, we play to win, so that certainly needs to not be ignored. Our objective is to win baseball games and to play playoff baseball. I don't have that answer,” he said. “But you can't deny that if there's a group of three or four players that are kind of in the same conversation, that usually goes to the player on the winning team. It all depends on how much better a player has played throughout the course of the year.”

In 2010, Votto won the MVP with 31 of the 32 first-place votes, beating out the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols, in part because the Reds finished ahead of the Cardinals for the NL Central title.

“That was one of those seasons where Albert and I had very similar years based on a lot of the advanced numbers, he and I both played a lot. We're both good at our position,” Votto said. “I didn't win the Gold Glove or the Silver Slugger that year, but then I won the Most Valuable Player and the Hank Aaron Award. It's like, I was the best player in the league and the best offensive player in the league, but I wasn't the best player at my position, which confuses things. Obviously, there's other voters and that's highly subjective.”

That’s what makes MVP voting so difficult. There are different interpretations of value. Votto is certainly valuable, but is he the most valuable?

“It's going to be a very tough call on that side. You just never know, you've got to finish out strong,” Votto said. “I think if Giancarlo gets to 60 home runs, he's got a pretty interesting narrative. I think he's had a wonderful season. Then the guys in the National League on winning teams, they're on winning teams. That certainly comes into a lot of voters' minds. But, again, there's a week to go.”

BAR: Here's why Cincinnati Reds pitcher Raisel Iglesias won't opt into arbitration Zach Buchanan, [email protected] Published 10:27 a.m. ET Sept. 26, 2017 | Updated 10:40 a.m. ET Sept. 26, 2017

The Blog Above Replacement a daily look at the Cincinnati Reds, their minor leagues and whatever else is on the mind of Enquirer Reds beat writers, C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan. You can follow them on Twitter (@ctrent and @ZachENQ), Facebook (C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan) and Instagram (ENQReds).

I have seen it written a few places that Raisel Iglesias is likely to opt into arbitration this offseason. Here's why I think that's highly unlikely to happen.

First of all, it's true that Iglesias could opt into arbitration if he so pleased. He'll have just shy of three years service time when the season ends, but he'll be Super Two eligible. (For those who may not know: each year, the top sliver of players who have more than two but less than three years of service time get to enter arbitration a year early.)

However, opting into arbitration right now would bring little obvious gain and lots of risk for Iglesias. Under the seven-year, $27- million deal he signed back in 2014, Iglesias will make $4.5 million next season. From talking with team officials, it's unlikely he'd make much less money in arbitration, but it's unlikely he'd make much more either.

What becomes certain if he enters arb, though, is that the final $10 million on his deal is torn up. For any pitcher – especially one who's touched 101 mph like Iglesias, and especially one who has had a history of shoulder issues like he has – that'd be quite the risk to run. All it would take is one arm or shoulder injury and your earning power is dramatically reduced.

Is taking on that risk worth it for maybe $500,000 more in 2018? I doubt it. Now, a year from now the calculus may change. As a second-year arb player who had Super Two status, Iglesias could stand to make more than the $5 million his contract guarantees him. Perhaps then he opts in.

Another, unrelated thing to keep in mind with Iglesias. His contract ends after the 2020 season, but he'll still be shy of the six years of service time to reach free agency. No matter what he does before then, he can be controlled through the 2021 season.

ICYMI

- Do Jesse Winker and Phillip Ervin have spots on the Opening Day roster next year? Not necessarily, Bryan Price says.

Where do Jesse Winker and Phillip Ervin fit in for 2018? Zach Buchanan, [email protected] Published 6:01 p.m. ET Sept. 25, 2017 | Updated 6:14 p.m. ET Sept. 25, 2017

Jesse Winker didn’t give the diplomatic answer. He didn’t point out that he can’t control the things he can’t control, nor did he defer to the man in the manager’s office who does.

Instead, he gave a simple, confident and affirmative response. After hitting .279/.360/.486 in his first 126 major-league plate appearances, has the 24-year-old Cincinnati Reds outfielder proven his big-league bona fides?

“Yes,” Winker said flatly. “I think you can only base it off of the opportunity you get. Given the at-bats I’ve gotten and the time I’ve gotten, yeah, I’ve shown I can do it at this level.”

Of course, the clichés Winker eschewed are so well-worn because they’re often true. Aside from continuing to perform at a high level on the field, Winker does not have the power of self-determination when it comes to his career. Neither does fellow rookie outfielder Phillip Ervin, who has hit .265/.333/.490 in 55 plate appearances in the majors.

Determining how both fit into the big-league outfield picture for 2018 requires some advanced geometry. The Reds have three big- league outfielders they like in Billy Hamilton, Scott Schebler and Adam Duvall, although the latter has struggled significantly in the second half. Should all five candidates return for next season – and the Reds could always clear their logjam via trade – Reds manager Bryan Price doesn’t foresee a current regular losing his job.

Price said it's possible the Reds will rotate outfielders, or have one of the two on the bench. Or they could start the year in the minors. They'll be big-leaguers in some fashion, he said, but Price's predictive powers stop there.

“You have to always be chasing putting together your best ball club,” Price said. “I think both of them are going to play in the big leagues, without question. And play regularly. If it’ll be on the Opening Day roster, I don’t know that.”

Of course, there are reasons for the Reds to regard the two rookie outfielders with only cautious optimism. For one, Winker has hit six home runs in 126 trips to the plate this year after managing just five in nearly 800 Triple-A plate appearances the last two years.

There are myriad reasons for the surge – the likelihood of a juiced baseball, a friendly hitting environment at Great American Ball Park and a very unfriendly environment at the ironically-named Louisville Slugger Field. If there's one undeniable truth about Winker's power, it’s that he's tired of discussing it.

“Look, my power in Triple-A wasn’t there,” Winker said. “I think we can stop talking about it now. It’s just one of those things that I hit five home runs in a year-and-a-half at Triple-A. Big deal. I thought I put together two really good years. I just don’t think we need to talk about it anymore.”

It’s true that his .308 average and .398 on-base percentage at Triple-A was plenty to write home about. But whether Winker likes it or not, the home run spike is notable. Price certainly is paying attention, and is aware of the outlier nature of both Winker’s and Ervin’s early big-league performances.

Price mentioned that Winker had just two homers all year at Triple-A, and knows that Ervin didn’t hit better than .241 in any full season before this year. Many times, a hot start means only that pitchers haven’t dissected you yet. Price wants to see more.

“I don’t think you sign off on a player after they’ve made 12 starts or have 100 at-bats in the big leagues and say this guy’s destined for greatness,” Price said. “However, they can make an imprint. They can plant a seed.”

Both Winker and Ervin feel they’ve opened some eyes. Winker has little doubt about his ability to be a productive hitter in the majors. Ervin has found consistency with a tweak that helped Zack Cozart – keeping his bat on his shoulder until the pitcher is in the wind-up. Ervin thinks that led to his .275/.365/.418 line in the month before his call-up.

Ervin wasn’t as forceful with his self-belief, but also thinks he’s shown his big-league capabilities.

“I feel like I have,” he said. “I feel like I’ve shown I have the ability to play here.” DAYTON DAILY NEWS Scooter Gennett’s Cincinnati homecoming a bright spot for Reds Marcus Hartman 11:33 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017

Before talking to Scooter Gennett, I just felt I had to make amends.

“I have a confession to make,” I said when I approached his locker in the corner of the Reds clubhouse.

I’m not sure he knew what to make of that, so I went on to explain I was standing in that same spot on Opening Day when I found out the guy I previously knew only as a semi-regular Milwaukee Brewer was a fellow Southwest Ohio native.

The Reds, it turns out, were his team since he was a wee lad. He grew up wanting to wear that wishbone C, to follow in the footsteps of guys like Barry Larkin, whose replica glove he wore as a youngster.

“That’s pretty cool,” I thought then. “Too bad it won’t matter when he’s just a bench player here.”

The good-natured Lebanon native chuckled at that — although I’m not sure he was completely amused — and thanked me for my honesty.

Then we talked about what has been a dream season for him as a member of the team he grew up dreaming he could be part of.

A surprise homecoming

To recap, Gennett became a Red on March 28 after the Brewers put him on waivers.

He hit .279 in three-and-a-half seasons in Milwaukee, blasting 35 home runs in 456 games but not being known as a power hitter.

He didn’t waste any time making an impression with his new club, regaling reporters with the story of how he got his nickname (his real name is Ryan) from a chat with a Lebanon police officer when he was very young.

He also swatted a 2-run homer in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss to the Phillies on Opening Day.

“When I first got claimed by the Reds I felt like I was dreaming a little bit, like this is crazy, very surreal,” he said. “But I’d say after about a month or so that kind of wore off and it was back to normal baseball and doing whatever I can to help the team.”

He hit two more home runs in a two-game series in Pittsburgh to start the second week of the season, but his coming out party was June 6.

That was an unforgettable night at Great American Ball Park as Gennett hit a franchise-record four home runs and added 10 RBIs as the Reds routed St. Louis 13-1.

After getting playing time all over the diamond early in the season, he became the Reds regular second baseman mid-July.

And Gennett kept slugging, easily topping his previous career high of 14 home runs.

Through Monday, Gennett had 27 homers and 94 RBIs while hitting. 298.

Surprising results

People like me might not have seen this coming, but at least I’m not alone.

“He’s absolutely a surprise considering I felt like I had a pretty good idea of the type of player he was from the time he played against us in Milwaukee,” Reds manager Bryan Price said last week. "He’s exceeded our expectations really beyond anything I would have ever fathomed.”

As for Gennett? He felt confident coming into the season.

“I started doing a new workout routine with my cousin, just one-on-one stuff (last offseason), and just last year I made some big strides with my approach offensively,” he said, noting an oblique injury slowed him for part of 2016 in Milwaukee. “I knew that if I put those two pieces together I would have success.”

He also knew he would have to bide his time before moving into the starting lineup.

Although Gennett can play multiple positions, the Reds opened the season with prospects or established major leaguers at all of them.

Gennett had no choice but to make the most of playing time Price could find for him.

“I think I just went in with no expectations other than to be ready and be prepared to play every day, and I thought if I stuck with that mindset then things would work out,” Gennett said.

Along the way, he became an important player inside and outside the lines.

“I certainly didn’t expect him to impact us in such a significant way not just as a player but as a fixture in the clubhouse, a guy who really is a piece of the fabric here of a strong nucleus of position players,” Price said.

Gennett has also worked hard to give back to the community, an effort that paid off when he was named the Reds’ winner of the Roberto Clemente Award for off-field contributions.

“It’s always been a priority of mine, even with the Brewers,” Gennett said. “As big-league ball players we’re in a position to impact others, and I know it’s a priority for me and quite a few guys in here who do take the time to sign autographs and do stuff in the community.

“A lot of us find time whether it’s a couple hours a week or 20 minutes a day we try to find time to do whatever we can.”

Gennett might not have known exactly how the season would unfold, but he did believe in himself even though he started the season as a bench player.

What’s next?

Gennett is under club control for two more seasons, though he already knows from being let go in spring training by Milwaukee one never knows that the future might hold.

“It’s all up to them,” Gennett said. “I would love to be here for a long time, hopefully the end of my career, but ultimately it’s up to them what they want to do. I just hope I’ve shown them enough this year that I’m in their mind when it comes to this kind of thing. Really the ball’s in their court.” TRANSACTIONS 09/26/17 Washington Nationals activated RF Bryce Harper from the 10-day disabled list. New York Yankees activated CF Aaron Hicks from the 10-day disabled list.