Phil Ervin has been the rare “blocked” prospect for the Cincinnati Reds to actually get a path to some playing time, stay healthy, and produce like crazy in his time in 2018, and on Friday he had his biggest night as a big leaguer.
Mr. Magic went 3 for 3 with a walk, a pair of dingers, 4 runs scored, and 4 runs driven in form his left field spot, adding a diving catch to save a would-be extra-base hit on defense for good measure. While the likes of Dilson Herrera, Nick Senzel, and Alex Blandino have all either seen opportunities to get playing time be lost due to either injury or the presence of All Stars in front of them, Erv has largely taken the opportunity presented to him by the injury to Jesse Winker and the trade of Adam Duvall to show what he can do, and tonight, especially, he’s looked pretty dang good doing so.