The Reds left spring training with a young pitching staff and young bench. Arismendy Alcantara and Patrick Kivlehan were back up infileder/outfielders. Alcantara had never spent a full season in the Major Leagues. Kivlehan had five games of experience.
The plan was for Jose Peraza, 23, to learn on the job as the regular secondbaseman with the Alcantara backing him up.
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Jonathan Villar and Hernan Perez were given the opportunity to play every day for the Brewers and took advantage of it. At the same time, Kevin Thames and Jesus Aguilar had great springs and needed to be added to the roster. Ivan DeJesus Jr. hit .420. Gennett had a decent spring at .316 with no home runs.
Gennett was the odd man out after a good season in spite of the injury. He hit a career-high 14 home runs and batted .263 and a had career-hgih with 56 RBI and 131 hits. His only drawback was his defense. He has limited range.
Gennett knew he had the ability and through work he felt he could continue to build his career in Cincinnati.
“I still had confidence in my ability,” Gennett said. “Sometimes the stars just don’t line up. You get hurt or somebody gets traded and you have to take a back seat for a little while. I just knew that if I kept working hard that getting better each day, each year would ultimately the world would give it back to you.”
The Reds claimed Gennett, 26, off waivers and told him he was going to be in a support role.
As hard as Gennett tried, he put pressure on himself to win the job.
“Early in my career, I was in a platoon situation and had to battle out of that,” Gennett said. “I had a tough year with the oblique last year. I put myself in a position to get in there every day. When your not in there every day, you tend to add more pressure. Sometimes things don’t work out when you’re trying too hard. This year I kind of let things happen naturally. I’ve learned that’s the best way. Now I have the opportunity to play every day and I am more consistent.”
The Reds told Gennett he would play off the bench, taking the pressure to prove he could play every day out of the equation.
“I had a new task, a new job in a sense,” Gennett said. “Being a utility guy coming off the bench, I was aware there were no expectations.. I was just prepared to play any position. I think just maturing as a player through dealing with failure, just makes you stronger. Once I was able to play a little bit more here, I was able to handle that better.”
Gennett has put together a prenominal season. He has a career high 21 home runs with four coming in one game, only the 17th player in history to do that. Gennett has a career-high 75 RBI with a Reds’ record tying three grand slam home runs. He endeared himself to Reds’ fans with a pinch hit home run on opening day.
“Once you get the opportunity and prepare and become selfless good things will happen,” Gennett said.
Some people dismissed the 5'9“ Gennett as too small to hit with power.
“I was told I was too small,” Gennett said. “Those things just fueled me. I knew I could hit with power. I hit home runs in high school (Sarasota High Sailors) with a wooden bat. It was just a matter of allowing them to happen naturally, not trying to swing harder. This year it is allowing things to happen and being more relaxed at the plate. You realize too how they are going to pitch to you, how they are going to attack you. The more time you have in the league the better edge you have.”
The lesson to be learned by a team trying to develop young players is that they may struggle early in their career but if they keep working that sooner or later they will have a breakthrough season like Gennett is having.
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