Cincinnati Reds: Multiple RBI chances await the heart of the batting order

Who will lead the Cincinnati Reds in RBIs during the 2020 season is anybody’s guess, but the heart of the lineup will have plenty of opportunities.

The Cincinnati Reds ranked 12th in the National League last season in runs scored. With the likes of Shogo Akiyama and Joey Votto at the top of the Reds lineup, there’s no reason to think that Cincinnati can’t finish among the Top 5 in the league in that category during the upcoming season.

John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported on Monday that David Bell has decided to bat Akiyama and Votto first and second when the two players are in the lineup together. That should be music to the ears of Eugenio Suárez, Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas, who’ll likely be hitting behind Akiyama and Votto in the lineup.

Last season, Suárez led the Reds in RBIs with 103, one shy of his career-best set in 2018. Anthony Rendon of the Washington Nationals led the National League in RBIs last season with 126, a number that Suárez could easily match this coming season.

If Geno doesn’t lead the Reds in RBIs, there’s a really good chance that Moustakas could. Given the new three-batter minimum rule being enforced by Major League Baseball this season, it’s highly likely we’ll see the right-handed hitting Suárez followed by the left-handed hitting Moustakas.

Moose was second on the Milwaukee Brewers last season with 87 RBIs. Christian Yelich led the team with 97. Moustakas hit all over the Brewers’ batting order last season, seeing the most time in the No. 4 hole (211 plate appearances). However, the California native had the most success hitting fifth in the Milwaukee batting order with a .992 OPS in 108 at-bats.

If Moustakas is hitting cleanup, that means that the newest member of the Cincinnati Reds, Nick Castellanos, will be batting fifth. If that happens, it would be the first time since 2017 that Castellanos hit lower than fourth in the lineup. The right-handed slugger is used to hitting second in the batting order, but that spot belongs to Joey Votto.

Neither Moustakas nor Castellanos possess the on-base ability of Votto, which is why both will hit further down the batting order. If Akiyama and Votto do their jobs and get on base, then the likes of Suárez, Moustakas and Castellanos will have a ton of opportunities to rack up the RBIs.

The sixth spot will likely belong to either Nick Senzel or Jesse Winker, deepening on how David Bell handles the lineup. If Senzel gains the start, look for Akiyama to start in left field. If Winker gets the nod, expect to see Akiyama as the Reds starting centerfielder.

You’re then looking at Freddy Galvis and some combination of Tucker Barnhart and Curt Casali to bring up the rear of the Cincinnati batting order. Galvis had a career-high 23 homer in 2019 and Barnhart and Casali make for a great No. 8 hole hitter. This Reds lineup is primed to score runs.

Bell has the right idea with Shogo Akiyama and Joey Votto setting the table for the big bats. Even if Votto gets on base at the .357 clip we saw in 2019, that’s terrific for the No. 2 hitter in the lineup. However, I expect Votto have a bounce-back season and get back to the player who reached base 42% of the time throughout his career.