Cincinnati Reds watch Eugenio Suarez get better week by week

Eugenio Suarez started off 2017 by getting on base at a high rate for the Cincinnati Reds and he keeps getting better.

Eleven games into the 2017 Cincinnati Reds’ season Eugenio Suarez had an OBP of .452. In the ensuing week Suarez has actually added 6 points to that. He continues his personal chase for an OBP of .500.

19 games into the season, Suarez has started 17 and played 18. In those 18 games, Suarez has reached base 15 times. In one game he reached base only once without a hit or walk and another game he only got on base via the walk.

Suarez is 23-for-62 batting as well. That puts him on pace to get about 225 hits. The record is 262 set by Ichiro, but Suarez has a good chance to lead the league, if he can maintain this rate.

Despite this great start, Suarez is tied for second in home runs and only third in RBIs on the Reds. He is batting behind Adam Duvall and Joey Votto. Neither of them is batting above .240 so far this season. With production like this, Suarez is becoming the face of the Reds.

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Suarez is leading all of the position players with a 1.200 OPS. He is first in slugging and OBP among the same group. So far Suarez has done his best to attempt to carry the offense on his back to start the season.

The Cincinnati Reds have watched Eugenio Suarez get better by leaps and bounds during his tenure with the team.

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It can be fun to take a jab at Eugenio’s defense, but this year it has been perfect. That’s not Gold Glove perfect, just flawless. After committing the most errors of any National League third baseman, Suarez has none so far in 2017.

That’s right, zero. This is a hitter that the Detroit Tigers traded because they didn’t see anywhere to place his defense. 17 games into the 2017 season and Suarez has yet to commit an error.

He also has changed his batting approach. Suarez is first good pitch swinging.

This combined with a flatter swing through the zone has created the new Suarez.

By taking a flatter approach on his swing, he is hitting more line drives and fewer fly balls. This has helped his batting average and slugging, while costing him a home run here or there. This combined with a more aggressive approach at the plate has made Suarez a true middle of the line-up hitter.

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The pressure is on Suarez to continue to improve. Last year’s first round draft pick Nick Senzel has said that he wants to debut in 2017. That means the Reds need a reason not to replace Suarez and his 2017 is about as good as a reason gets.

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