The Reds have hit the jackpot with breakout star Adam Duvall

The Cincinnati Reds don’t have a tremendous number of things to be thrilled about these days. Their bullpen is horrible. They’re in last place in the NL Central (and figure to stay there). Even team cornerstone Joey Votto has struggled at the plate.

But if nothing else, the Reds and their fans have to be loving Adam Duvall, who has been one of the best breakout stories of the 2016 MLB season.

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Duvall is the 27-year-old they acquired from the San Francisco Giants last season in exchange for Mike Leake. The Reds have transformed Duvall from a corner infielder without a job into a starting left fielder who’s playing like an All-Star.

(Yahoo Sports) You can watch Duvall and the Reds face the Atlanta Braves on Monday at 7:10 p.m. ET in MLB Free Game of the Day here on Yahoo Sports. You can stream the game for free on Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home. Local blackout restrictions apply, per MLB’s rules.

With the Giants, Duvall was mostly a farm-hand. In Cincinnati, he’s a run-producer. In fact, Duvall is tied for second in the NL with 17 homers and ranks ninth in RBIs (41). His OPS (.869) is 19th in the NL. His .288 batting average isn’t spectacular, but it’s miles ahead of the .192 he hit in 2014 with the Giants and .219 last season with the Reds in 27 games after the trade.

In San Francisco, Duvall didn’t really fit in. There was a log-jam at first and third base that wasn’t changing anytime soon — especially not once Matt Duffy took over for Pablo Sandoval last season and had a breakout season of his own. So Duvall got a new start with the Reds. The trade was something of a homecoming too, since he grew up in Kentucky and graduated from the University of Louisville.

With consistent playing time and a defined role from the woebegone Reds, Duvall has flourished. Part of that, he says, comes from an important offseason adjustment. He recently told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle:

“A mental adjustment,” Duvall said. “Staying on the ball a little longer, seeing the ball as long as I can, keeping the swing short and tight, focusing on driving the ball through the gaps and trying to be explosive when I make the decision to swing. Everything after that is out of your control.”

In other words, not trying to jack every pitch to the parking lot in left field.

“I’ve always hit home runs,” said Duvall, who averaged 25 homers in the minors from 2011 to 2015, “and now I’m just trying to be the best hitter I can be.”

Adam Duvall is one of the breakout stars of 2016. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) The Giants have to look at what’s happened with Duvall (who they drafted in the 11th round in 2010) and wonder what could have been. Right now, they’re down an outfielder because of Hunter Pence’s injury and are exploding trade options.

Plug this version of Adam Duvall into S.F.’s first-place lineup and things look a lot better. But as Duvall said recently, he doesn’t know where he’d be with the Giants, even this season.