USA TODAY Sports
PITTSBURGH – Zach Vincej wasn’t expecting the news that he was going to the big leagues when he went to Louisville Slugger Park on Thursday.
Vincej, 26, wasn’t on the Reds’ 40-man roster, so he tried not to think too much about getting called up when rosters expanded. Thursday’s game for the Bats wasn’t much different for him, except that he wasn’t playing. Vincej started 103 of the Bats’ 138 games at shortstop this season and Thursday was his first day off in more than two weeks.
By the ninth inning, Vincej was the last player left on the bench and Bats manager Delino DeShields told him he was going to pinch-hit.