Ben Lively is the eternal optimist.
The 31-year old will likely take the American Ball Park mound on Thursday 10 years after the Reds' tabbed him with their fourth pick in the 2013 draft. Then Reds called him up yesterday.
He was getting out of the shower at 2 p.m. and scheduled to start for the Louisville Bats last night.
"It was a full rush," Lively gushed. "I didn't even grab my clothes."
"I went into Louisville and got my stuff. I got here an hour before the game."
Lively had such a good first full season in 2014, the Philadelphia Phillies coveted his talents and were willing to send veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd to the Reds to put him in their starting rotation. The Reds named him their minor league pitcher of the year in 2014.
In Philadelphia the Floridian made 15 starts in his rookie year in 2017. Lively was 4-7 with a decent 4.26 ERA and one complete game. He also hit two home runs for the Phillies
He made five more starts in 2018 but the Phillies put him on waivers and Kansas City picked him up.
Arm problems plagued Lively with the Royals. He pitched in five games in 2018 and one in 2019. He was with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for two months before pitching for Samsung in South Korea in 2020 and 2021.
This season he was 4-0 with a 2.33 ERA in four starts for the Bats.
"I've been more focused. I'm staying on the routine, and stick with it more than I have in the past," Lively said. "It was really good to hear from Pat Kelly (Louisville's manager). He was the first manager I had in Billings then again in Bakersfield. I was cool hearing it from him."
"There were injuries and a lot of whirlwinds in coming back," Lively said. "I love the guys here that is why I resigned with this organization. I get to complete the full circle. It's pretty cool."
It is a different feeling being called up this time compared to his 2017 call up with Philadelphia.
"Putting a Reds uniform on felt like the full circle. I can't wait to get on the mound," Lively said.
Lively became the old man in Louisville, which had a terrible 2022 just like the big league club did.
"We've been playing pretty well down there. It is fun watching the young guys play. There is a lot of talent there. It gets me fired up. We have Ely de la Cruz, Encarnacion-Strand, McNeil. Watching those guys play make me want to play well too. They are special athletes. We've been playing pretty well down there. Fun baseball honestly. I was projecting to a lot of guys, we're going to have fun no matter what."
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