Cincinnati Reds: The Todd Father vs. Eugenio Suarez

Cincinnati Reds’  rotating door at third base

In the past couple of years, the Cincinnati Reds have been in the midst of a rebuild. There are a lot of young guys on the roster trying to find their niche. Also, the Reds have been trading veteran pieces for prospects. Furthermore, they have successfully developed plenty of talent through the farm. This team will be competitive in the future, but are basement dwellers right now. One position that has been a point of fluctuation is third base.

Now, Todd Frazier was traded because of a rebuild. He was decent defensively, and the bat was a boom stick. Also, his contract was growing higher while his production was declining. His replacement has been a mix of Eugenio Suarez and Patrick Kivlehan. Suarez is the one to stick, while Kivlehan is just playing on days when the former needs a day off. They both can play various positions, which makes them more valuable. But the former Tigers’ prospect cemented himself into the fold after this season. We’ll discuss that more in depth later. Let’s compare Todd Frazier with Eugenio Suarez, and determine who is the better pick.

The Cincinnati Reds’ Former Hot Corner Masher

The New Jersey born Frazier is a threat in the power department. The right handed hitter has a reputation of either striking out or smashing a dinger. Surprisingly, he only has 164 career home runs. He basically has been a one sided player, but was better at the hot corner initially than in his past few seasons. Decline is a regular event as a professional athlete. Other than David Ortiz, every veteran ballplayer has their time. The infielder’s best season on the defensive end was back in 2013, where he posted a 11.7 Def statistic. This meant that he was almost above average with the glove. After that year, he had two more good years at third in 2014 and 2015. Those Def stats were 3.4 and 9.6 respectively.  Now he has fallen off drastically with the mitt, as to his -2.1 Def last year and -0.4 this year.

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He is a different story with the bat. Frazier broke out offensively in 2014 with 29 home runs and 88 RBIs. The righty was solid at the plate a few years prior with 19 home runs in both years, but this was a time when everything went right for him. He has hit the gopher ball 91 times since then. His average has declined, but the homer total has stayed high. One reason for balls leaving the yard is the percentage he hits fly balls. This season, his fly ball percentage is 46.2%. Last year’s power surge was helped by him hitting a fly ball 48.7% of the time. It would be nice for him to get a few more walks, as he has swung at pitches out of the zone 26.3%. Overall, if Frazier can find discipline at the plate he will be a much more well rounded hitter.

The glove is improving, and so is the bat for the Cincinnati Reds’ current guy

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Eugenio Suarez came to the Reds in a trade with the Tigers. He wasn’t a name that popped off the prospect list. The infielder was never in the top 100 list. But he has shown that he can play at the Major League level when playing a full season. In 2015, he hit .280 with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs. The production doesn’t look like much, but he only had those numbers in 398 plate appearances. That next season, his numbers were .248 with 21 homers and 78 RBIs in 627 times at the plate. His production this year has been good, as he has 13 dingers and 48 RBIs in 366 chances. So his bat has picked up over the past couple seasons. Suarez has accumulated a 4.0 WAR in the time span. The hitting side of his game has improved, and so has his game at the hot corner.

In his everyday gig at short in 2015, he posted a -8.5 Def metric. Those numbers meant that his defense was below average. His glove drastically improved in 2016 with a 2.8 Def metric, which means that he was about average. Now this season at third has also improved slightly with a 3.0 metric. This is a player who was not well known for some time. Now Suarez is an everyday player who has pop and can pick it at third.

Overall – The Cincinnati Reds’ Guy vs. The Former Guy

Todd Frazier has been a much better player over time. But Suarez has only been in an everyday role 2 1/2 seasons. So it will be seen who has the better career. If a team is desperate for production at third, then Frazier is it. But if they want someone who is average to above average at the hot corner and can hit, then it’s Suarez. So it all depends in the needs of the team. In my opinion right now, Suarez is the better player. He is able to play various positions at a decent level and can knock runners in. The Todd Father is one dimensional, as he can only hit bombs and strikeouts. The Reds’ current third bagger has more value, due to the fact that he is younger and controllable.

Next: The Reds some big bats hidden in Cincinnati.

Suarez is the better ball player to have, and is my pick to be more valuable as his career progresses.