The Cincinnati Reds demoted third baseman/outfielder Nick Senzel to Triple-A Louisville prior to Friday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates

Cincinnati recalled outfielder Henry Ramos from Louisville in a corresponding move

Senzel, 28, is batting just .219 with nine homers, 37 RBI and five steals in 80 games this season. He was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Reds and is in his fifth big league season

“Nick’s been with us a long time, he’s been an important part of the team and helped us win a lot of games,” Reds manager David Bell said before Friday’s game. “It got to the point where Nick wasn’t going to be playing much over the next 10 days or so primarily because he starts against left-handers and there aren’t a lot of left-handers coming up on the schedule

“So, we made the choice to send him to Triple-A to get regular at-bats and get back on track.

The switch-hitting Ramos batted .242 with four RBIs in 18 games for Cincinnati earlier this season

Ramos, 31, belted a 495-foot homer in Thursday’s game for Louisville. He was batting .315 with nine homers and 42 RBIs in 54 games for the Bats

Cincinnati also designated rookie right-hander Eduardo Salazar for assignment to open up a 40-man roster spot for Ramos

Salazar, 25, was 1-0 with an 8.03 ERA in eight relief appearances for the Reds this season

–Field Level Medi