Eugenio Suarez started the 2016 season for the Cincinnati Reds like he was going to make the Reds forget all about third baseman Todd Frazier and the pitiful trade return the Reds received for the All-Star this offseason.
Suarez smashed four home runs in his first six games as Frazier’s replacement. He was hitting .301 with a .363 on-base percentage and an .883 OPS after his first 19 games of the season.
Suarez tailed off for the rest of April but finished the first month of the year with a .270 average. The month of May has proven rough for Suarez. He’s hitting just .181 for the month and striking out in bunches heading into the final week of May.
Suarez did have a seven-game stretch from May 13th through May 19th in which he hit .313 with three homers and eight RBI. His season average rose from ,238 to .253 during that span.
The resurgence by Suarez was short-lived, however. Since then, he is hitless with 13 strikeouts in 18 at-bats. His average now stands at .227 in 171 at-bats. He has hit nine homers overall but has only three other extra-base hits.
While Suarez has had spurts of success at the plate in 2016, he has been defensively challenged from the outset of the season. His shift from shortstop to the hot corner in place of Frazier looks like it will take time. Suarez has 10 errors and a .911 fielding percentage in 112 chances in the field at third base so far this year.
Suarez has the luxury of time to figure it out at the plate and in the field. The Reds don’t have a major-league ready third baseman anywhere in sight in the minors.
Current starting left fielder Adam Duvall has 3,554 innings of experience at third base in six minor league seasons but just two innings at third in the majors.
But Duvall looks like he’s won the starting left field job this year. Next year will be a different story.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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