Cincinnati Reds: Who plays third base while Eugenio Suárez recovers?

4. Matt Davidson

Matt Davidson, a non-roster invitee in spring training, may have more big leagues innings at third base save for Mike Moustakas. Davidson has a big bat and isn’t afraid to swing it. He didn’t play an inning in the majors last season, but tore it up in Triple-A. Davidson slashed .264/.339/.527 for Triple-A Nashville in 2019.

Davidson has power, but struggles to make contact. For his career, his on-base percentage is below .300, but his .730 career-OPS is elevated due to his .435 slugging percentage. It’s kind of feast or famine for Davidson, as he’s likely to wallop the baseball over the fence, or go down swinging.

For his career, according to FanGraphs, Matt Davidson has a 34.5% strikeout-rate. Conversely, his career walk-rate is 7.9%. Those numbers are not very promising, and he’ll have to see an improvement in that area during spring training if he has any hopes of making the team out of Goodyear. By contrast, Eugenio Suárez’s career strikeout-rate is 24.8%.

Davidson has power, which is one thing that few others on this list possess. The only player who comes close is Mike Moustakas, who’s career slugging percentage (.441) is just a few ticks above Davidson’s. It’ll be an uphill battle for Davidson to make the roster, but a good showing during spring training, combined with Eugenio Suárez’s absence could provide Davidson an opportunity.