Eugenio Suárez is the Cincinnati Reds best bet for NL MVP

Reds third baseman Eugenio Suárez could win the NL MVP in 2020.

The 2020 baseball season will be a wild one to follow. The coronavirus pandemic, combined with bickering over money between owners and players, has resulted in a 60-game season slated to being in late-July. The race for NL MVP will be an interesting one to watch, but the Cincinnati Reds best bet is third baseman Eugenio Suárez.

It’s hard to call 2019 a breakout year for Suárez, but it was his best. The 28-year-old had career-highs in home runs, slugging percentage and OPS. Unfortunately, Geno also had a career-high in strikeouts as well, and actually led the league in that category with 189. Still, Suárez put up phenomenal numbers and finished 15th in the NL MVP race.

With the white-hot finish that Eugenio Suárez put up in 2019, the Reds third baseman may not be getting the recognition he deserves. Over the final month of the season, Suárez hit .337/.455/.747 with 10 home runs and 18 RBIs. If you take both August and September into the equation, the right-handed hitting slugger owned 1.062 OPS and racked up 20 round trippers.

Given that Suárez will be in the same lineup that features Nick Castellanos, Mike Moustakas, Joey Votto and Shogo Akiyama, some big numbers could be in his future this season. Conventional wisdom would have Akiyama and Votto hitting No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, with Geno sitting in the No. 3 hole.

If both Akiyama and Votto do what they do best (get on base), then Geno should have several RBI opportunities each game. Given that Moustakas and Castellanos are likely to follow, Suárez will get his fair share of pitches to hit as well. Even with only 60 games, Suárez could put up impressive numbers.

Geno’s shoulder injury is behind him, and according to Reds President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams, Suárez is 100%. A healthy Eugenio Suárez is great news for Reds Country, and bad news for the NL Central. With the addition of the universal DH, the Cincinnati lineup will be even more potent and give Geno more opportunities to chase down the NL MVP Award.