Cincinnati Reds: Three possible replacements for the injured Freddy Galvis

3. Eugenio Suárez

For my money, if he’s healthy in his own right, I’d plug Eugenio Suárez in as the Cincinnati Reds starting shortstop on Opening Day in the event that Freddy Galvis is unable to go. Suárez has yet to take the field this spring, as he’s currently dealing with an injury of his own.

Suárez injured his shoulder in a pool accident earlier this winter, but all reports suggest that he’s slowly working his way back. If Geno makes his return before March 26th, the Reds should insert him into the lineup as the starting shortstop.

Starting Suárez at shortstop would provide Cincinnati with their best lineup. If Geno takes over at shortstop, where he 183 games of major league experience, the Reds could move Mike Moustakas to third base. Cincinnati would then have a bevy of options to fill in for Moose at second base, all of which give them better potential to score runs.

Derek Dietrich and Josh VanMeter come to mind. Both players offer a left-handed power bat and have shown the ability to cleanly field the position. While we said earlier that the Reds front office has scoffed at the idea of moving Nick Senzel to shortstop, he did have 28 starts at second base for Triple-A Louisville in 2018.

Geno hasn’t played a game at shortstop since 2018, but with the defensive shifts employed in today’s game, there’s plenty of times when we’ve seen Suárez shade to his left and setup where the shortstop would typically be playing.

If Freddy Galvis is unable to go, the Cincinnati Reds have options. None of the potential fits are ideal, but depth behind Galvis is scarce to say the least. Galvis hasn’t shown much durability since joining the Reds, but hopefully, the 30-year-old Venezuelan native is able to get back onto the field before the end of camp.