Cincinnati Reds begin the process of marketing Zack Cozart from game 1

With the Cincinnati Reds looking to move shortstop mid-season, the marketing of his skills starts now.

Zack Cozart has been the shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds since 2012.  His double play partner, Brandon Phillips, is gone to the Atlanta Braves and Cozart isn’t far behind.  Starting with Opening Day, the Reds will be looking to showcase Cozart as a competent offensive threat.

The question becomes where does he look the best in the line-up given that the Reds want to highlight his skills?  Do you bat him in the top two spots in the line-up so that he gets the most at-bats?  Or do you bat him lower so that he can drive in runs?

The Reds seem to be leaning towards batting him seventh, behind right fielder Scott Schebler.  With third baseman Eugenio Suarez in front of him, this plan may just work.  Suarez appears to be a plus on base guy and Schebler shows the same promise.  The issue may be the protection behind Cozart.

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If the Reds try to show Cozart as an RBI machine by placing him behind OBP skilled players, then who bats behind him?  With all due respect to catchers Tucker Barnhart and Stuart Turner, they are not good protection.  The improving Barnhart can get on-base but do little else, while Turner has shown himself to be in consistent in his professional career so far.

The Cincinnati Reds missed a golden opportunity to show that Zack Cozart is capable at other positions.

This spring as the Reds were auditioning for back-up shortstops and future shortstops, they missed the chance to showcase Cozart at other positions.  In particular other teams need to see that he can play second baseman.  As a back-up infielder Cozart will be worth much more than as just a back-up shortstop.

The Reds could have looked more closely at the defense of Zach Vincej and Blake Trahan in order to let Cozart play second and third.  Arismendy Alcantara also could have played more short.  The only real needed reps was for Jose Peraza to get to play next to Cozart as they are the Reds’ Opening Day double play combination.

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This season needs to showcase Cozart all season long, until he is traded away.  The Reds need to show that he can still play elite defense.  They also need to show that his offense is better than most shortstops.  Perhaps most of all, they need to show the rest of MLB that Cozart can stay healthy all season long.