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Cincinnati Reds positional preview vs. NL Central: shortstop

By Drew Koch

ST LOUIS, MO - SEPTEMBER 01: Tommy Edman #19 of the St. Louis Cardinals steals second base against Freddy Galvis #3 of the Cincinnati Reds. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - SEPTEMBER 01: Tommy Edman #19 of the St. Louis Cardinals steals second base against Freddy Galvis #3 of the Cincinnati Reds. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WI – AUGUST 13: Jesse Winker #33 of the Cincinnati Reds is forced out at second base as Orlando Arcia #3 (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

5. Orlando Arcia, Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers had the worst shortstop in the NL Central last season and did nothing to upgrade the position over the winter. Orlando Arcia enters the 2020 season as the likely starting shortstop for the Brewers, and that’s not a good thing.

Last season, Arica hit just .223/.283/.350 with 15 homers and 59 RBIs. For all the Cincinnati Reds fans clamoring that Freddy Galvis is not good enough, I give you Orlando Arcia. Now, I don’t want to totally crush the 25-year-old Venezuelan, as Arcia is a fine defensive player with a total of 16 defensive runs saved for his career.

The reason that Arcia comes in at No. 5 is the same reason that Cincinnati did not re-sign José Iglesias. Arcia lacks power and has very little plate discipline. According to FanGraphs, Arcia’s walk-rate for his career is 6.5%. Couple that with a career-OPS of .652 and it’s just not going to cut the mustard. Shortstop prospect Brice Turang is still two years away from the bigs.

4. Freddy Galvis, Cincinnati Reds

Reds fans have voiced their displeasure throughout the offseason in regards to Freddy Galvis being the team’s starting shortstop. Personally, I think fans are overreacting and will be pleasantly surprised with the production Cincinnati will receive from Galvis in 2020.

Freddy Galvis is no slouch. The 30-year-old is one of the best defensive shortstops in the league and Reds fans will not see much of a drop-off in terms of the defensive wizardry they witnessed from Iglesias last season. In fact, Galvis’ .985 career fielding percentage is one point higher than Iglesias’. Galvis is the active leader in that category among shortstops.

Galvis is fairly good with the stick too. While he’s unlikely to have a fantastic on-base percentage, the Venezuelan-native hit a career-high 23 homers in 2019 and put up 2.6 WAR. Freddy Galvis is a solid, yet unspectacular starting shortstop and will serve the Cincinnati Reds just fine once the 202 season gets underway.

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