As Lorenzen enters free agency for the first time, he’s hopeful a team will give him a chance to compete for a spot in the starting rotation. He knows there will be some hesitancy because injuries pushed him into a reliever’s role throughout his career. Three times he competed for a spot in the starting rotation and a different injury popped up each time: He sprained a ligament in his elbow in 2016, strained the teres major muscle near his right shoulder in 2018 and had a shoulder strain this year.
What sticks out to Lorenzen is the injuries occurred in spring training and not in the regular season. He showed his durability as a reliever, completing at least 80 innings from 2017-19, and he finished the season in the Reds’ rotation in 2018 and 2020 with solid results. “Never been hurt during the season and I throw a ton,” Lorenzen said. “I’m available every night. Rarely do I tell (manager) David (Bell), I would say after I went three (days) in a row, I went in and I was like, ‘David, I really wanted to be available tonight, but I’m not available tonight.’ Like I throw a lot. I’m throwing off the mound even when I’m not in games. I’m warming up. The fact my arm can withstand that during the season, it just shows me I need to do something different before I come to spring training. It’s not starting. It’s none of that.”
Lorenzen was frustrated with how things ended last week, but he remains confident in his own future. “Some unlucky things happened and things that are out of your control,” he said. “It can be frustrating, but you just have to keep moving forward. This season, it wasn’t ideal obviously. Didn’t finish ideal. None of it was really ideal, but that’s life. You just have to keep pushing forward and thank God for every opportunity.
“You know me. I’m willing to bet on myself.”