“I didn’t get any fly balls,” the right-hander lamented before Saturday’s rainout. “Other than that, it was perfect. It was exactly what we talked about.”
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Lorenzen, 27, pitched and played the outfield in college and has lobbied to do the same with the Reds. He played one inning in the outfield last season, and first-year manager David Bell – whose plan to keep an eight-man bullpen left him room for only four bench players – gave him more work during spring training as a way of stretching his bench.
“It’s not a little gimmick,” the versatile Lorenzen said. “We’re actually going to do this. I’m grateful for the confidence that they put in me. They constantly reassure me, ‘It’s not like you’re trying out for this. We believe in you already, and we know you can do this. Be ready Game One,’ and in Game One, the opportunity arose.”
Bell won’t hesitate to use Lorenzen as a pitcher and outfielder in the same game. He pondered that possibility on Opening Day.
“We got to a certain point in the game where, if he did pitch, it would’ve been later – potentially in extra innings or maybe after a couple of other pitchers were used,” Bell said. “We got to a certain point where I felt like it was safe to go ahead and use him as a pinch-runner and as an outfielder. He is still available as a pitcher at that point, already being in the game.”
Lorenzen wouldn’t need much time to warm up to pitch, he said.
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“Not long at all,” he said. “I felt really good just throwing to (left fielder) Scott (Schebler). I was throwing him some sinkers. I told him, ‘This is going to be a real thing.’ I was throwing sinkers, cutters, curveballs, changeups and stuff to make sure that, when they do call me, I’m ready to go.
“It’s not new to me. I think, with the whole two-way thing, the simpler I can make it, the better. I feel like I’ve made it pretty simple. I have my cues for when I pitch. It doesn’t take me a ton of time to make sure my sinker’s on and my cutter’s on.”
Giving Lorenzen a start in center currently isn’t in Bell’s plans, but that could change, the manager said.
“I wouldn’t say I would not consider that,” Bell said. “Right now, with our outfield being the strength of our team, it’s not something that would happen immediately. It’s not something I’ve thought a lot about, but I would not rule that out either.”
Lorenzen has found Cincinnati’s full-time outfielders to be understanding of the project.
“No, I haven’t caught any flak,” he said. “They know we’re just trying to win.”
Of course, he could give it back if a position player is called on to pitch, which happens every once in a while in a blowout loss.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Lorenzen said with a smile.
Wood update: Don’t expect to see Alex Wood on the mound for the Reds any time soon. The left-hander, acquired as part of that massive off-season trade with the Dodgers, remains at Cincinnati’s Goodyear, Ariz., complex trying to get over lower back tightness.
“Mid-April may be a little aggressive for Wood,” Bell said before Sunday’s game. “He is progressing, but it will take him a little time to build back up. He’s been doing well and is real positive.”
Right-hander Tyler Mahle is filling Wood’s spot in the rotation. Mahle is projected to start the finale of the three-game series and the season-opening home stand on Wednesday at 12:35 p.m.
Growing up: For the first time since 2013, Cincinnati's season-opening roster includes no rookies, according to the Reds. That's a change from the last two seasons. Cincinnati's 2017 Opening Day roster was the youngest in the major leagues with an average age of 26 years, 355 days. Last season's roster was the major leagues' second-youngest with an average age of 27 years, 196 days.
Defending champs: The Reds play the first of 15 games scheduled to start at 6:40 p.m. when they welcome the defending Central Division-champion Milwaukee Brewers to town for the first game of a three-game series on Monday.
Newly acquired right-hander Tanner Roark, obtained from Washington during the off-season, is scheduled to make his Cincinnati debut. Right-hander Zach Davies is due to start for the Brewers, who beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field in a one-game playoff to win the division title last season.
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