Jeff Curry – USA Today Sports
With the trade of Todd Frazier and the attempted trade of Brandon Phillips this offseason, the Cincinnati Reds have changed the face of their franchise going forward. Joey Votto is the face of the team and Jay Bruce will be an important factor as long as he stays in Cincinnati, thanks to his home run power. The rest of the team is largely question marks.
Devin Mesoraco and Zack Cozart are both coming back from injuries. Billy Hamilton had his worst season to date. In left field the Reds don’t even know who will start. They do know that Eugenio Suarez will hit.
Suarez was acquired from the Detroit Tigers for Alfredo Simon in the 2015 offseason. He started the season in the minors. When Cozart got injured, Suarez came up full-time.
In 96 games at short Suarez belted 13 home runs with an OPS of .761. He ended up fifth on the team in home runs and seventh in OPS with the only regulars ahead of him being Bruce and Votto. Two of the people ahead of Suarez in OPS where Adam Duvall and pre-injury Cozart. Suarez will have help in 2016. He was one of the best offensive options for the Reds in 2015.
Unfortunately, his glove didn’t keep up with his bat. He committed 19 errors and look ill-suited for the position at other times. The good news is that Suarez will be the starting third baseman if Cozart is healthy to start the season.
With the issues that Hamilton has had offensively, Suarez is the projected to be leadoff batter. With his .315 OBP, only Phillips, Tucker Barnhart and Votto had higher OBP than Suarez out of the current returning Reds, which makes him the ideal leadoff hitter in 2016. With his ability to hit for power and get on base, he will continue to lead the Reds offensively. Batting ahead of Votto and Bruce, Suarez will undoubtedly become a face of the offense and maybe the franchise by the middle of 2016.
Nick Vorholt is a writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Cincinnati Reds.
