GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- In the final months of the 2019 season, Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen’s two-way prowess put him on the Major League map.

Lorenzen accomplished a feat last performed by Babe Ruth. He also socked a walk-off double in throwback threads and started six games in center field, all while remaining an integral cog in the team’s bullpen.

Now, heading into 2020, Lorenzen is looking to carry over that momentum and transcend his current status.

“My quote is, ‘Stay ready so that you don’t have to get ready,’” Lorenzen said. “Every year, every offseason, I’m prepared to do a two-way type role.”

Lorenzen hasn’t yet patrolled the outfield during the spring as he battles knee soreness. The ailment, which he described as “totally fine,” has not affected his preparation or performance on the mound, but manager David Bell figured it prescient to hold Lorenzen back for the time being.

“He’s so important to our bullpen,” Bell said. “We’ll add him back in [to the outfield mix] as soon as [his knee] is 100 percent.”

Lorenzen spent 89 innings in the outfield last year and accrued 2 Outs Above Average, making him just one of 79 outfielders to have achieved that mark in 2019.

“We know how good of an outfielder that he is,” Bell said.

Even with the offseason additions of Nick Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama to a crowded outfield group, it appears that Bell’s late-season plan from 2019 to get Lorenzen into the game any way that he can remains in place for 2020.

While he may not fit the parameters set by the league in its new two-way player rule, Lorenzen is set to affect the game in the field, on the mound and with a bat.

Since the start of 2017, Lorenzen has thrown the third-most relief innings in the Majors. But even though he remains in peak physical shape, this offseason has been his first preparing for what is anticipated to be a workload larger than just pitching out of the ‘pen. Even as he insisted that his training regimen over the winter was no different, he did note areas in which he wants to improve further.

“I want to add some [velocity],” Lorenzen said. “So [training] was a lot more body awareness, when it came to the mechanical side of pitching.”

Last season, Lorenzen was elite at limiting hard contact, posting the second-lowest average exit velocity (84.5 mph) in the Majors.

“I think that just comes from having so many different pitches,” Lorenzen said. “[Hitters] don’t really know what may be coming next. When you have a lot of weapons, they can’t sit on anything and they don’t know what you’re going to come at them with next.”

While Lorenzen’s exploits offensively and defensively have gained him additional notoriety, the Reds will be primarily relying upon him in 2020 as a vital cog at the back end of their bullpen. He churned out two outs of scoreless relief on Saturday in Cincinnati's 7-2 loss to Kansas City, with five of his outs coming via the strikeout.

Lorenzen has amassed eight strikeouts in five innings across his first four Cactus League appearances.

“People have always told me to throw less and less pitches, just figure out two and go with it,” Lorenzen said. "I’ve always said, ‘No, I’m going to perfect these pitches and they’re going to be really good pitches.’

"Right now, I feel like I’m seeing the benefits of that.”