“If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we’ll lose to the Yankees out there.” Oakland A’s GM Brad Pitt

In the eminently quotable movie Moneyball, this particular line sums up the Moneyball philosophy. Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, is trying to convince his old-school scouts that they need to think differently in order to compete with the Big Boys. They need to zig when all the other teams zag. With their limited finances, the A’s can’t construct their roster like the game’s financial behemoths do.

Although the divide between the rich and the poor in baseball has lessened since Moneyball was first released, the idea of Moneyball has taken over the sport. Now “Moneyball” means simply trying to find an untapped advantage before other teams do. And every team is trying to do this, from the A’s to the Yankees. Whether it’s embracing sabermetrics, expanding the use of infield shifts, or, the most recent example, experimenting with “Openers,” every team wants to find that one thing no other team is doing that might give it a few extra wins.

The Evolution of the Utility Player

One development that’s grown out of the Moneyball philosophy is the evolution of the utility player. In previous generations, a utility player was someone who wasn’t good enough to stick to one position. He was the 25th man on the bench, used to spell the starters at various positions. But about a decade ago, along came Ben Zobrist and his manager for the small-market Tampa Bay Rays, Joe Maddon. Maddon was one of the first managers to really embrace the new “Moneyball” ideas, and his use of Zobrist all over the field was a case in point. Zobrist wasn’t the traditional utility player; he was good enough to start as a second baseman (or a corner outfielder), but instead of sticking him in one role, Maddon used Zobrist all over the field. This gave the Rays flexibility in constructing their roster and when making in-game decisions. Soon other teams came to realize that having a “super-utility player” was a competitive advantage.

But of course, once an idea is embraced by every team around the league, it no longer remains a competitive advantage. It morphs into a competitive necessity just to stay up with the Joneses. So, like all new Moneyball innovations, once super-utility players become the standard, teams needed to start looking for the next untapped advantage. Interestingly, it might be the embrace of the ultimate super-utility player—the three-way player (pitching/hitting/defense).

The Ultimate Super-Utility Player?

Last year’s arrival of Shohei Ohtani was a seismic event in the history of Major League Baseball. For the past century every player has been either a position player or a pitcher—and never could the twain meet. Sure, every once in a while you would see a position player pitching in a blowout loss, or even a pitcher pinch-hitting once in a blue moon, but no team allowed a player to be both a regular position player and a regular pitcher. Then the multi-talented Ohtani essentially made both pitching and hitting a requirement for signing him, and his success last year cracked open the door for more. But Ohtani only hits and pitches, as he never plays defense as a position player; he’s a two-way player.

Which brings us to Michael Lorenzen. A relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Lorenzen made more headlines last year with his bat than on the mound. He hit four home runs in 34 plate appearance, and slugged .710(!) for the year. His career slugging percentage in almost 100 plate appearances is .500. That a relief pitcher had so many plate appearances in a season is testament to the fact that the Reds knew he could swing the bat. Yet, in general, the Reds kept him relegated to pinch-hitting duties, only once putting him in the outfield for one inning last year.

Yet now there is talk—including from Lorenzen himself—that perhaps the Reds should expand his role. There’s no DH in the National League (yet), so the Reds can’t use Lorenzen like Ohtani. But perhaps they could go even one step further; perhaps the Reds could make Lorenzen a three-way player—pitching, hitting, and playing the field. Lorenzen was an excellent centerfielder in college and he plays for a team that currently has no true centerfielder. That leads to the question: should the Reds look at Lorenzen as more than a relief pitcher who gets a few dozen pinch-hit appearances each year? Could he become, in essence, a sixth outfielder for the Reds, while also remaining a relief arm?

Lorenzen wants to try. In recent interviews on the MLB Network, he made clear that he thinks can do more than just pitch. In fact, he believes that he is a better outfielder than pitcher. And many teams agree—when Lorenzen was in the draft, most teams considered him an outfield prospect, not a pitching prospect. But the Reds preferred him on the mound at the time.

Managing the Three-Way Player

How would this work in practice? I could see Lorenzen keeping his same role in the bullpen. He is often used in the classic “fireman” role, coming in during any inning when things get hairy, and often pitching for multiple innings. He also could continue to be an option off the bench to pinch-hit when he’s not on the mound. But in addition he could also be a late-inning defensive replacement in centerfield, and even start in center every once in a while. He’d actually be a superior option to most “defensive replacements” due to his strong bat. Lorenzen might see less time on the mound (he pitched 81 innings last year), but he’d have far more plate appearances and innings in the field. I could see him pitching 50-60 innings, getting 200-300 plate appearances, and patrolling center field for 100+ innings. When was the last time that something like that happened? Has it ever happened?

Such a scenario gives a manager a great deal of flexibility; it essentially adds an extra player to the roster, giving the Reds 26 players instead of 25 to choose from. That’s a competitive advantage.

There are other players in the pipeline who could be used like this, including the Reds’ own uber-prospect Hunter Greene as well as the Rays’ Brendan McKay (the Rays really need to do this, if only for the potential Seussian headline, “The Rays’ McKay to Play Three-Way”). But I think there is potential for many more three-way ultimate super-utility players. Most MLB players were three-way players through most of their amateur careers, often all the way through college ball. They were typically the most physically gifted and talented players in their youth, high school, and even college leagues, and so they were the best pitcher, the best hitter, and the best defender on their teams. But once they reach professional ball, they were forced to choose one side of the divide (or, like Lorenzen, that side was decided for them). How many of them, if given the chance, could excel on both sides? We’ve never before been allowed to find out.

Why Not Try?

And in Lorenzen and the Reds, we have a perfect test case to break down baseball’s traditional barrier between position players and pitchers. Lorenzen clearly has the talent to be a three-way player, and, just as importantly, he wants to do it. Being a pitcher, position player, and defender would be mentally demanding, so the player’s positive attitude is vital to success, and Lorenzen has that in spades. Further, the Reds are the type of team that needs to try an experiment like this. As a smaller-market team, they can’t just throw money to buy a playoff roster. Like the Rays and the A’s, they need to take risks to find that competitive advantage. It also would give some needed excitement to a fan base that hasn’t had much to cheer about the past five years (and Lorenzen is already a fan favorite in Cincinnati). And of course, the Cincinnati Reds are the perfect team to try a three-way player, as the most popular local food is the “three-way” at Skyline Chili (imagine the marketing opportunities!).

Fortunately, new Reds manager David Bell seems cautiously open to the possibility. There’s no question it’s a radical idea, one that goes against decades of encrusted baseball thinking. But that could be said about many of the successful and now-accepted “Moneyball” ideas of the past twenty years. Until the Reds or some other team tries it, how will we know whether it will work? Michael Lorenzen is ready to give it a shot, so what are you waiting for, Reds?

Eric Sammons is a lifelong baseball fan, a youth baseball coach, and a father of seven children (just two more for a full team!). His favorite team is the Cincinnati Reds, and his all-time favorite players are Eric Davis and Ken Griffey, Jr.

Tags: Ben Zobrist