NEW YORK – Since Cincinnati Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen injured his hamstring on July 17 while running the bases, his target date to return to the Reds bullpen kept changing.
At first, Lorenzen expected he would be rehabbing all season. When he went on the injured list two days later, there wasn’t a timetable for his return. But he was expected to miss at least a few weeks.
Eleven days later, on July 28, Reds general manager Nick Krall said Lorenzen was a week-to-10-days away from returning. On July 29, Reds manager David Bell said there was a chance Lorenzen could return over the weekend during the Reds series against the New York Mets.
More:'Just a frustrating loss:' As Joey Votto just misses history, the Mets walk off the Reds
Lorenzen raced through every timeline, returning on July 31. Fewer than two weeks after he felt a pop in his hamstring while tagging up from third base, Lorenzen returned to the active roster. In Friday night’s win, Lorenzen pitched a scoreless seventh inning and hit 98 mph with his fastball.
Then on Saturday, Lorenzen threw another scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
“It’s been a lot of work,” Lorenzen said. “I’m happy and ecstatic about how I feel and being able to get on that mound and throw free and easy.”
More:Reds notes: Rookie Jonathan India is showing he's underrated as a power hitter
Lorenzen managed to find a way to get back from it quickly.
“We were able to somehow, through a lot of work, get me here,” Lorenzen said.
He’s wearing compression sleeves all day to keep the swelling down. He’s using supplements like Vitamin C and eating bone broths to give his hamstring the “best environment to heal.”
Lorenzen said he’s also doing red light therapy.
“A type of light that is supposed to interact with the cell and sends messages to the cell that promote healing,” Lorenzen said. “There’s a lot of good science behind it. I got it this offseason for my knee, I like it and think it’s a good piece. I’m always trying to look for different things that can help whether it helps 1%.”
Lorenzen’s wife is getting her Master’s degree in human nutrition and functional medicine, and Lorenzen said she has played an important role in his quick recovery.
All of Lorenzen’s work clearly paid off. On Friday night, Lorenzen needed only eight pitches in his scoreless seventh inning. His fastball velocity was higher than its season average, and Lorenzen used that pitch on his last pitch of the inning for a swing-and-miss strike three.
On Saturday, Lorenzen retired all three batters he faced in the eighth.
Even though he’s back in the Reds bullpen, the work isn’t over for Lorenzen.
More:Daugherty: Will the Reds ever make a trade-deadline splash like the Dodgers?
“Everything else has to start firing better because something isn’t there anymore,” Lorenzen said. “I had to really work on that mind to muscle connection and develop those new neural pathways to the muscle to really get to fire the way they haven’t been firing my entire life.”
WINKER IS BACK: Reds left fielder Jesse Winker said he didn’t put much thought into how hard he hit the ball on July 24 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
In that game, Winker hit a single to right field in the first inning that was 108.9 mph off the bat. In the second inning, he doubled off the left field wall. In the seventh inning, he hit a 380-foot home run to right.
The only time he didn’t get a hit was in the fourth inning when he hit a 92 mph lineout to center field. After that game, Winker broke out of a month-long cold stretch at the plate and continued to hit at an All-Star level.
“I have a tendency in everyday life, not just in baseball, I can look too far down the road,” Winker said. “With baseball, this is a sport that has a long season. I just try to focus on one day at a time.”
More:Series Wrap: Why the playoff math is still tough for the Cincinnati Reds
“That’s baseball, it’s a 162 game season. Good and bad, you try not to think about it too much. You just try to play the game and do what the game asks you to do on a daily basis.”
From July 1 until that game against the Cardinals, Winker had a .164 batting average and just four RBI in 17 starts. He worked on a few things, including an early batting practice at Great American Ball Park session where he only hit balls to left field.
Entering Sunday’s game against the New York Mets, Winker had a .400 batting average and a 1.204 OPS since July 24.
“He did go through a little bit of a tough stretch before the All-Star break,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Carried over beyond the All-Star break. He’s clearly back now looking like he did up until that point. He just kept working at it. He can hit.”
WHAT A MONTH: For likely the first time in his five-year career, Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer was listed as a candidate for NL Player of the Month in July.
Farmer had never been a consistent starter before this season, and July was the best month of his career. He had a .395 batting average and the highest mark in baseball for any qualifying hitter over the last 30 days.
Farmer had seven doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI and 15 runs scored. He raised his batting average from .210 to .263 while playing solid defense.
More:'This is what we want:' Why Nick Castellanos appreciates the trades the Reds made
“Look at Kyle Farmer, what he’s done,” Reds first baseman Joey Votto said on Friday. “Like, I’m proud of him as a teammate. Legitimately proud of him as a teammate.”
Source link
