Cincinnati Reds: Is Eugenio Suárez the best third baseman in the division?

1. Eugenio Suárez, Cincinnati Reds

The season that Eugenio Suárez put together in 2019 is one for the record books. While the Cincinnati Reds as a team didn’t have much success last season, Suárez put together one of the great individual performances in franchise history. Geno’s 49 round-trippers led the team and he broke the record for most home runs in a season by a Venezuelan-born player.

The fun-loving Suárez outpaced all other third basemen in the division in many offensive categories, including home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage, OPS and WAR. Geno’s 2019 performance put him on the map and he’ll likely receive some well-deserved national attention if he’s able to duplicate what we saw last season.

The biggest sticking point in Eugenio Suárez’s game over the years had been his defense. The 2019 season offered more of the same, as Geno led the league in errors by a third baseman (17). Suárez led the National League in that dubious category in 2018 (19) as well. However, let’s not forget that Kris Bryant led the league in that category back in 2017 (18).

Suárez is unlikely to ever win a Gold Glove due his defensive efforts, but he may very well be in the conversation for the NL MVP if the Cincinnati Reds live up to expectations and are a contender during the upcoming season. Eugenio Suárez is the best third baseman in the National League Central, and he may be getting better.