Cincinnati Reds: Who was the most surprising player in 2017?
The Cincinnati Reds just finished another tough, rebuilding season. That said, which player was most-pleasant surprise in 2017?
Unfortunately for the Cincinnati Reds, the 2017 season didn’t turn out the way everyone had hoped. With a victory over the Chicago Cubs in their last game of the season, the Reds improved their record to (68-94). Needless to say, it was another disappointing season for an organization looking to get back to the postseason somewhat soon.
At the same time, not everything that Cincinnati experienced in 2017 was bad. Actually, there were some pleasant surprises throughout their 162 game schedule.
For instance, Joey Votto just had a career-year, putting himself in the NL MVP race, Adam Duvall proved 2016 wasn’t a fluke whatsoever and Zack Cozart made the National League All-Star team in July. However, there was one player, not mentioned above, who I believe was the team’s most surprising and exciting player in 2017 for Cincinnati.
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In his first season with the Reds, Scooter Gennett became the most-surprising and exciting to player to watch in Great American Ballpark. The five-year veteran came over from the Milwaukee Brewers and played all over the diamond for manager Bryan Price in 2017. Not only was he their key utility man, but he also had one of the most dangerous bats in the entire lineup.
Take a look at where Gennett ranked among his teammates in some of the major hitting categories – courtesy of MLB’s official website:
- 136 total hits (5th on CIN)
- 80 total runs (t-4th on CIN)
- 27 home runs (4th on CIN)
- 97 runs-batted-in (3rd on CIN)
Point being, Gennett joined a Reds roster that was already full of guys who could play solid defense and swing the bat at an elite level. Of course Joey Votto and Billy Hamilton are always exciting to watch perform, but we knew what they were capable of.
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That said, I don’t believe any of us thought Gennett would have his best season as a Major League Baseball player in 2017.