Jay Bruce And The Future of the Cincinnati Reds

After all the hype following Clayton Kershaw's debut on Sunday, another high-profile rookie made his debut this week. Jay Bruce, rated the number 1 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America, made his debut with Cincinnati last night. For all the expectations Bruce has and will face, he did not disappoint in his debut. Bruce went 3 for 3 with a double, two RBIs, two runs, a stolen base, and two walks. Bruce's debut inspired Reds Manager Dusty Baker to call it "One of the best debuts I've ever seen." While the Reds should not expect that kind of production everyday from the 21 year old, Bruce could begin to churn out those kinds of days routinely with some seasoning. While the 21-year old outfielder will be a tremendous hitter, he will need to make an adjustment when Major League pitchers pound a weakness in his swing. Because of this, Bruce likely will struggle for a short amount of time. This is an adjustment all rookies make at some point. Bruce, however, is a great candidate to make the adjustment quickly because he is such a natural hitter.


The city of Cincinnati may finally see some light at the end of the tunnel for its baseball team. The Reds may soon break out of the bottom half of the NL Central and into the playoffs. While they are young and they are struggling this year, this is an extremely talented team. Seeing that, Reds fans may have been disappointed with the slow start for the team this season. However, Jay Bruce brings hope for a city that has just two trips to the playoffs from its professional sports franchises since 1990. Bruce will be a guy that annually grinds out at least a .320 average, 35 home runs, and 15-20 steals.


Bruce has a lot of weight on his shoulders to turn around a Reds franchise that has not had a winning season since 2000 and has not made the playoffs since 1995. However, he will have plenty of help from a farm system that is ready to produce some possible future superstars. The Reds have the making of baseball's best rotation in a few years, one that will feature young guns Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, and Edinson Volquez along with current ace Aaron Harang. They also have the makings of a dynamic offense that will eventually feature Bruce, Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, prospect Paul Janish, and Edwin Encarnacion. It could be very soon that the Reds develop into serious World Series Contenders.