Cincinnati Reds positional preview vs. NL Central: first base

3. Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals

Finding Paul Goldschmidt’s name at No. 3 should give everyone a good indication of how loaded the NL Central is at first base. Goldschmidt was traded last offseason from the Arizona Diamondbacks, but didn’t put up the type of numbers that fans in St. Louis expected. Goldy slashed .260/.346/.476 with 34 homer and 97 RBIs.

Like Joey Votto, Paul Goldschmidt is a six-time All-Star. Goldschmidt found his power during the second half of the 2019 season, hitting .274/.356/.552 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs after the month of June. If that version of Goldschmidt is what Reds fans can expect to see in 2020, then the Cardinals might be better than we first thought.

2. Josh Bell, Pittsburgh Pirates

Josh Bell is the best player on the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 27-year-old made his first trip to the All-Star Game last season and put up career-highs in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs and RBIs. Bell is a a star in the making and is under team control through the 2022 season. Bell has a lot of time left in the Steel City.

Josh Bell was a Reds killer last season, hitting .297/.343/.625 with five home runs and 16 RBIs off Cincinnati hurlers in 2019. Bell has power from both sides of the plate, as thee switch-hitting first baseman was still able to slugging .448 from the right side. Joey Votto’s slugging percentage on the season was just .411.

Unfortunately for Josh Bell, he’s likely to be on the wrong side of the scoreboard more times than not in 2020. Much like Votto was from 2014-2018 with the Cincinnati Reds, Bell will be the best player on a rebuilding team. Look for big numbers from Bell, but little team success from the Pirates in 2020.