Michael and his wife, Cassi, have a daughter, June Elizabeth, who was born on Nov. 7, 2022, and had a son in January 2025...He’s the founder of Work Mode, a Baseball Skills training app available on Apple and Android...Nicknames include “Cowboy” and “Zen Master,” derivative of the last three letters of Lorenzen’s last name...Pitched and played outfield for three seasons at Cal State Fullerton from 2011-13, where he set a school record with 35 career saves and was teammates with Matt Chapman...As a freshman in 2011, he recorded 19 saves with a 1.99 ERA in 22 appearances on the mound and hit .335 with seven HR, 53 RBI and 12 stolen bases...Was a finalist in 2013 for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association Stopper of the Year Award and was named to the watch list for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award...Also named a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, a Louisville Slugger first-team All-America selection and All-Big West Conference...Selected by Tampa Bay in the seventh round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, but did not sign...Lettered all four seasons at Fullerton Union HS.
2024
Lorenzen completed his 10th big league season and first with Kansas City after being acquired via trade from Texas on July 30, 2024...Signed with Texas at the end of Spring Training, inking a one-year deal on March 22...Six days later, he landed on the injured list with a right neck strain that kept him out of action through April 15...His 3.31 ERA (48 ER in 130.1 IP) in 2024 was his best mark since 2019, when he had a 2.92 ERA (27 ER in 83.1 IP) in 73 relief appearances with Cincinnati...Made 19 appearances (18 starts) with the Rangers, going 5-6 with a 3.81 ERA (43 ER in 101.2 IP) and 75 strikeouts before being traded to the Royals, with whom he went 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA (5 ER in 28.2 IP) and 22 strikeouts in seven games (six starts)...He missed 24 games from Aug. 28-Sept. 24 after suffering a left hamstring strain while stretching to receive a throw at first base on Aug. 27 in Cleveland...Against his changeup in 2024, opponents batted .122 (12-for-98) with 27 strikeouts, for a .174 slugging percentage...According to Baseball Savant, .174 ranked as the lowest slugging percentage vs. any changeup thrown more than 300 times...Had two appearances with Kansas City in the 2024 postseason…suffered the loss in Game 1 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium…entered in the sixth inning with the Royals leading, 5-4, and two on with one out, and struck out Aaron Judge before allowing the game-tying run on an RBI single by Austin Wells.
2022
Started 18 games with the Los Angeles Angels in 2022... Struck out a career-high nine batters on June 4 at Philadelphia... Sidelined from July 4-Sept. 9 with a right shoulder strain... Finished the season strong, posting a 2-0 record with a 2.36 ERA (26.2IP/7ER) and 30 strikeouts over five starts from Sept. 9-Oct. 4.
2021
Began season on Reds' injured list with a right shoulder strain suffered during Spring Training...Following one rehab outing with ACL Reds and four relief appearances at Triple-A Louisville, was reinstated July 16... Made season debut July 17 vs. Milwaukee and pitched a scoreless eighth inning before moving to RF in ninth inning and CF in 10th inning...Was designated runner at second base to start bottom of 10th and suffered a right hamstring strain while scoring tying run on a sacrifice fly...Returned to IL from July 19-30...Missed 100 total games during two stints on injured list...Did not allow a run until the second inning of his 13th appearance, snapping his scoreless streak at 12 appearances (a single-season career-high) and 13.2 innings...Was not charged with a run in 20 of 27 overall outings...Converted all four save chances and recorded five outs in each of first two save opportunities (Aug. 4 vs. MIN and Aug. 21 vs. MIA)...Retired first batter faced in 19 of 27 appearances and stranded four of seven inherited runners...Pitched more than 1.0 inning five teams, including season-high 2.0 innings twice (9/4 vs DET & 9/20 vs PIT)...Allowed nine of his 18 earned runs in two outings; Aug. 24 at MIL (0.1 IP - 4 ER) and Oct. 1 at PIT (0 IP, 5 BF, 5 ER)... His ERA in other 25 games was 2.83 (28.2 IP - 9 ER)...In last two games of season, allowed seven earned runs in 1.2 innings to raise season ERA from 3.62 to 5.59...In eighth inning Sept. 7 at Cubs, allowed a solo HR to pinch hitter Rafael Ortega that snapped his homerless streak at 48.2 innings (dating back to Aug. 3, 2020)...Was longest active streak in Majors when snapped.
2020
2020 SEASON ON THE MOUND
Including the Postseason, posted ERAs of 2.79 in two starts (9.2ip, .200 oba) and 4.39 in 18 relief apps (26.2ip, .245 oba)... In his last 13 apps beginning 8/13, including 2 scoreless apps in the Wild Card Series at Atl, had an ERA of 1.74 (31ip, 23h, 12bb, 35k, .204 oba)... Including the Postseason, eight times threw more than 1.0 inning in relief and 5 times threw at least 2.0 innings, including a season-high 4.0 innings out of the bullpen on 8/31 vs StL... Including the Postseason, retired the first batter in eight of his 18 relief apps...stranded 5 of 11 inherited runners... Allowed a two-run home run in each of his first three apps of the season (2.2ip, Miguel Cabrera, C.J. Cron, Javier Báez)...including the Postseason, didn't allow a homer the rest of the year (17g, 33.2ip)... Three times during the regular season pitched on consecutive days (7/25- 7/26, 8/8-8/9, 9/5-9/6) and pitched in both games of the Wild Card Series at Atl...never in his career has pitched on three consecutive days... Made his starts in consecutive apps on 9/15 vs Pit (4-1 win) and 9/20 vs WSox (7-3 win, career-high eight strikeouts)... Were his first starts since 2018, when he made his final three apps in the rotation after beginning that season with 42 apps in relief...between those three starts in 2018 and the two starts in 2020 made 88 consecutive apps in relief (3.38era, .228 oba)... In the 7-5 loss on 8/31 vs StL entered the game in the fourth inning in relief of starter Anthony DeSclafani and didn’t allow a run in 4.0 innings, his longest outing since a start on 9/29/18 vs Pit (5.2ip) and his longest appearance out of the bullpen since he threw a career-high 4.1 innings in relief on 8/14/18 vs Cle... Earned the 7-2 win on 9/25 at Min that clinched the Reds' first Postseason appearance since 2013...entered in the fourth inning in relief of starter Tyler Mahle and threw 3.1 innings, his third relief appearance of the season of at least that length... In the 13-inning, 1-0 loss at Atl in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series threw scoreless 11th and 12th innings... was the longest 1-0 game in Postseason history... In the eighth inning of the Game 2 of the Wild Card Series at Atl, recorded the Reds' final two outs of the 5-0 loss. 2020
SEASON IN THE FIELD
Appeared in 23 games during the regular season, including 17 times as a pitcher only, once as a pitcher/pinch runner (7/26 vs Det), twice as a pinch runner (8/12 vs KC & 9/22 vs Mil), once as a pinch runner/defensive replacement in CF (9/27 at Min) and twice as a defensive replacement in CF (9/1 vs StL, 9/2 vs StL)... Made his last appearance on defense in the final game of the regular season, a 5-3 win at Min...in the top of the 10th inning replaced Jesse Winker as the automatic pinch runner at 2B and scored the go-ahead run on Tucker Barnhart's RBI-single...played CF in the bottom of the 10th... In the top of the eighth inning of the 16-2 loss vs StL on 9/1, entered the game in CF...led off the bottom of the ninth, and in his only plate appearance of the season was hit by a Seth Elledge pitch and scored a run... In the top of the ninth inning of the 3-2 loss on 7/26 to the Tigers entered the game as a pitcher, then pinch ran in the bottom of the inning for designated hitter Jesse Winker...became the first pitcher already in a game to pinch run for the DH since Oak's Keith Atherton did it on 7/23/84 at Min... Made four apps as a pinch runner, his last in the season finale on 9/27 at Min.
2019
Appeared in 105 of the Reds' 162 games (73g at P, 6gs in CF, 18g in CF, 8g in LF, 4g in RF, 13g as pinch runner, 6g as a pinch hitter)...Went 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position (.385, 2 2b, 4rbi)...Became the first player in Reds history, whose primary position is pitcher, to appear in each of the first 6 games of a season (PR/CF, P, PR, P, PR, P)...Started in CF in 5 of the Reds' last 14 games of the season, including 3 straight starts in CF from 9/14- 9/16...has made 6 career starts and 18 career apps in CF, all in 2019...In the 8-5 win on 9/4 vs Phi, joined Babe Ruth (6/13/1921 vs Det) as the only Major League players since 1900 to earn the win, hit a home run and play the outfield in the same game...entered in the seventh inning as the Reds' third pitcher of the game and suffered a blown save after Jay Bruce homered to tie the score at 5-5...in the bottom of the eighth hit his only HR of the season and seventh of his career, a 2-run HR off Blake Parker that extended the Reds' lead to 8-5...played center field in the top of the ninth...In the 6-5 loss on 9/27 at Pit started in CF...pitched a hitless seventh inning to keep the score tied at 4-4...in the top of the eighth, produced an RBI-single off Francisco Liriano that gave the Reds a 5-4 lead...returned to the mound for his second inning and retired all 3 batters in the eighth...played CF for the ninth...was in line to earn the win until Kevin Newman's 2-out, 2-run walkoff HR off Raisel Iglesias...became the third pitcher in 2019 to start a game in CF and then pitch (Bal's Stevie Wilkerson, 7/25 at LAA & 8/10 vs Hou; Phi's Roman Quinn, 8/2 vs WSox)...In the 12-inning, 4-2 win on 9/28 at Pit played CF the final 5 innings...went 1-for-3...in the eighth inning recorded his first career assist as an outfielder...9 times in his career, including twice in 2019, entered games as a pinch hitter and remained in that game to pitch...on 4/9 vs Mia walked vs Wei-Yin Chen, scored and remained in the game to pitch the last 2.0 innings...in the top of the sixth on 4/15 at LAD struck out vs Clayton Kershaw and then pitched to 2 batters in the bottom of the inning...In the bottom of the ninth of 4-3 win on 9/8 vs Ari pinch hit and doubled off T.J. McFarland to drive in the gameending run...was his fifth career pinch hit, his only pinch hit of this season, and his first career walkoff hit...In the 6-1 win on 8/17 vs StL, became the first Reds relief pitcher with 2 hits in a game since Randy Keisler on 6/7/2005 vs TB (excluding the recent pitching apps of position players Kyle Farmer & Scooter Gennett)...Recorded 5 stolen bases, including 3 steals as a pinch runner...in the ninth inning of the 1-0 loss at NYM on 5/2, with Noah Syndergaard pitching, pinch ran and recorded the first stolen base of his career...was the first steal by a Reds pitcher since Tony Cingrani did it on 9/5/13 vs StL...Was 1 of 4 first-round/supplemental first-round draft picks to play CF for the Reds in 2019 (Phillip Ervin, Jesse Winker, Nick Senzel).
2018
Made his first 42 apps of the season in relief (3-1-1, 3.21, 67.1ip) and his last 3 apps as a starter (1-1, 2.63, 13.2ip)...the Reds went 2-1 in his 3 starts...his 3-1 win on 9/18 at Mil was his first start since 2015, when during that rookie season he made 21 starts and 6 relief apps...between starts on 9/16/15 at SF and 9/18/18 at Mil, made 151 consecutive apps in relief (13-6, 3.60)...while pitching out of the bullpen made 20 apps of more than 1.0 inning and 15 apps of at least 2.0 innings, including apps of 3.0 innings 3 times, 4.0 innings twice and a career-high 4.1 innings in relief on 8/14 vs Cle...in the 7-2 win on 6/1 at SD threw 4.0 innings in relief of starter Tyler Mahle to earn his only save of the season and third of his career...was the longest relief appearance of his career to that point and the first 4-inning save by a Reds pitcher since Elmer Dessens threw the last 4.0 innings of Ron Villone's 11-5 win vs SD on 6/24/2000 at Cinergy Field...entered the 8-1 loss on 8/14 vs Cle in the second inning in relief of starter Sal Romano and threw 4.1 innings, a new career high out of the bullpen and tied for the longest relief outing by a Reds reliever in 2018 (Keury Mella, 8/2 at Wsh)...8 times pitched consecutive days...never in his career has pitched on 3 straight days...fell short in his bid to become the first relief pitcher ever to win a Silver Slugger Award...among all batters whose primary position was pitcher, led the Major Leagues in HR (4), RBI (10) and slugging percentage (.710) while ranking second in batting average (.290) and third in on-base percentage (.333)...before joining the rotation for his last 3 apps, was trying to become the first player in the live ball era to produce at least 4 HR in a season without starting a game...hit 2 of his 4 HR as a pitcher and his other 2 HR as a pinch-hitter...on 6/30 off Mil's Jacob Barnes became the first pitcher to hit a pinch-hit grand slam since Tommy Byrne of the White Sox did it on 5/16/1953 at Yankee Stadium...as a pinch hitter went 3-for-13 (2hr, 5rbi), with home runs on 6/24 off Chi's Mike Montgomery and 6/30 off Mil's Jacob Barnes (grand slam)...over 5 consecutive plate apps from 6/7-6/30, he singled, homered (pinch hit), walked, homered and homered (pinch-hit grand slam)...became the first Major League pitcher to homer in 3 consecutive at bats since Col's Mike Hampton in 2001...from 6/24-6/30, homered in 3 straight at bats over 4 apps (HR, walk, HR, HR)...on 6/7 vs Col pinch hit and produced a 116.5-mile-per-hour single off Tyler Anderson, the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era by any Reds batter or by any Major League pitcher...in the top of the ninth inning of the 10-3 loss on 8/13 vs Cle played right field, his only Major League appearance at a defensive position other than pitcher, and singled...from 3/29-5/22 was on the 10-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain, including a 3-game rehab stint for Pensacola from 5/14-5/20...in spring training made 4 apps before he suffered a right shoulder strain...was disabled on Opening Day...didn't make his season debut until 5/23 vs Pit.
2017
Led the pitching staff with 8 wins and 70 apps, both career highs...ranked T5th in the National League in wild pitches (12) and 15th in apps...posted a 2.93 ERA prior to the All-Star break (37g) and a 6.32 ERA during the season's second half (33g)...earned his first 2 Major League saves, in the 7-5 win on 4/15 vs Mil and in the 5-2 win on 9/17 vs Pit...in 20 of his 70 apps threw more than 1.0 inning...twice threw a season-high 3.0 innings (4/10 at Pit, 5/30 at Tor), once threw 2.1 innings (7/28 at Mia) and 9 more times threw 2.0 innings...10 times pitched on consecutive days...never in his career has pitched 3 straight days...inherited the bases loaded 4 times, a staff high, and stranded 11 of the 12 runners...in the 7-1 win on 4/10 at Pit combined with Cody Reed (3ip) and Wandy Peralta (1ip) to throw 7.0 perfect innings...Reds relievers threw 7.0 hitless innings in a game for the first time in modern franchise history...in his first appearance of the second half (7/15 vs Wsh) allowed 6 earned runs, his career high out of the bullpen, while recording just 1 out...following that outing, his season ERA rose from 2.93 to 4.08 and didn't drop below 3.78 (7/22) the rest of the season...from 7/23-8/4 allowed at least 1 run in a career-high 5 consecutive relief apps (7ip, 11h, 6r, 5er, 2bb, 8k, 1hr)...3 times was used as a pinch hitter, on 4/6 vs Phi (HR off Adam Morgan), 4/16 vs Mil (6-3 off Wily Peralta) and 6/6 vs StL (1-3 off John Gant)...iIn the sixth inning of the 7-4 win 4/6 vs Phi produced a pinch-hit HR off Adam Morgan that snapped the 4-4 tie...was the first pinch-hit HR by any Major League pitcher since Cin's Micah Owings homered off StL's Ryan Franklin on 5/10/09 and the first pinch-hit HR by any Reds batter since Adam Duvall on 8/31/15 off Chi's Justin Grimm...was the club's nominee for the MLBPA's Marvin Miller Award, which goes to the player whose on-field performance and contributions to his community most inspire others to higher levels of achievement...retired the first batter in 50 of his 70 relief apps...stranded 19 of his 29 inherited baserunners...converted 2 saves in 8 chances...the Reds went 36-34 in games in which he pitched.
2016
In his first full season as a reliever posted a 2.88 ERA over 35 apps...in 12 of his 35 apps threw at least 2.0 innings, with a career-high of 3.0 innings in relief on 6/30 at Wsh, and 15 times threw more than 1.0 inning...the day before Opening Day went on the disabled list with a sprained right elbow that limited him to 1 spring training appearance...didn't make his season debut for the Reds until 6/24 vs SD...his father, Clif Lorenzen, died on 8/17...2 days later came off the bereavement list, threw 1.2 scoreless innings in that night's 9-2 win vs LAD and also hit his first career home run (3-run off Pedro Baez)...was the only home run by a Reds pitcher all season...his 3-run HR off Pedro Baez was the first by a Reds relief pitcher since Micah Owings homered on 5/7/10 vs Cubs off Carlos Silva...was the Reds' nominee for Major League Baseball's prestigious Roberto Clemente Award for his contributions on and off the field...MLB and the Players' Association donated $7,500 to the Dragonfly Foundation in Michael's name...also was the club's nominee for the MLBPA's Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award.
2015
In his Major League debut made 21 starts and 6 relief apps...was 1 of 9 rookie pitchers who combined for 110 starts for the Reds, both single-season modern club records... the Reds' season-ending streak of 64 consecutive starts by rookies, beginning 7/29, is a modern Major League record...was 1 of 5 Reds pitchers to start in his Major League debut (Raisel Iglesias, John Lamb, Jon Moscot, Josh Smith)...among National League rookie pitching leaders ranked 10th in ERA, T5th in starts, seventh in innings pitched and strikeouts and 10th in opponents' BA (.292)...made his first 3 apps of the season for the Reds as a starter (1-1, 2.81), followed by relief apps on 5/15 and 5/20...from 5/26-9/16 made 18 consecutive apps as a starter (3-8, 5.92) and then beginning 9/24 finished the season with 4 relief apps (4.2ip,1 er)...posted 7 quality starts...began the season at Louisville (3gs, 2-1, 2.84)...was promoted on 4/29 and in that night's 8-3 loss started vs the Brewers in his Major League debut after just 49 minor league apps...on 8/13 returned to the Bats for 3 minor league starts and went 2-1, 1.13 before he was promoted again on 8/31...following a 5-3 loss at SF on 9/16, returned to the bullpen after going 1-1, 6.00 in 4 starts following that 8/31 promotion...in his big league debut on 4/29 vs Mil, his first strikeout victim was pitcher Matt Garza... with 2 outs in the bottom of the second inning singled off Garza to become the first Reds pitcher with a hit in his first career plate appearance since Jose Arredondo on 7/29/11 vs SF...in his second start, a 7-1 win at Pit on 5/5, earned his first Major League victory...went 1-1, 2.81 in his 3 starts before a relief appearance vs SF on 5/15...in the fifth inning of that 10-2 loss to the Giants, grounded out as a pinch hitter and then pitched the sixth and seventh innings...excluding non-pitchers, became the first player to pinch hit and pitch in the same game since SF's David Huff on 5/26/14 vs Cubs and the first Red to do it since Micah Owings on 6/15/2010 vs LAD...on 6/6 vs SD produced his first career 2-hit game, both singles off Andrew Cashner...in spring training went 3-0, 1.80 in 2 starts and 4 relief apps (15ip, 12h, 10bb, 9k)...was a non-roster invitee to Major League spring training camp...as one of the final roster moves prior to Opening Day was reassigned to minor league camp the day the team left Goodyear.
2013
In his first professional season pitched at 4 different levels and in 1 start and 21 relief apps combined to post a 3.00era and 4 saves...following the season pitched for Glendale in the prestigious Arizona Fall League (6gs, 0-3, 11.42, 17.1ip, 29h, 12bb, 5k)...participated in the AFL's Fall Stars Game.
