Cincinnati Reds: David Bell needs to bench Eugenio Suárez

Reds third baseman Eugenio Suárez is 3-for-35 to begin the season.

This will be largely unpopular, and I’m not advocating that it lasts longer than one game, but David Bell needs to bench Eugenio Suárez. The Cincinnati Reds best player has gotten off to a horrendous start and has already lost his spot in the batting order. It’s time for Bell to send a message to the entire team and light a fire under Suárez.

When he’s on his game, Eugenio Suárez is the best player on the Reds. But Suárez has been anything but his best during the first 10 games of the 2020 season. Geno is 3-for-35 (.086), has struck out 12 times and has yet to record a home run. This is not the same version of Suárez that nearly led the majors in homers last season.

In the last series against the Detroit Tigers, David Bell switched up his batting order. Before Saturday’s game was cancelled, Nick Castellanos was moved up to the No. 3 spot in the lineup and Suárez was dropped to the No. 5 hole.

This change was nullified with Joey Votto’s absence on Sunday, but held true last night against the Cleveland Indians. Castellanos showed no ill-effects from the change, nearly going yard in his first at-bat and then smashed his fifth round-tripper of the year his second time up.

The move did not inspire Eugenio Suárez, who went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Suárez is not even having good at-bats, as he’s only walked twice on the season and has an on-base percentage of .250. Nick Senzel, Freddy Galvis or even Tucker Barnhart may be better options to take at-bats behind the likes of Castellanos, Mike Moustakas and Joey Votto.

Now, don’t misread what I’m trying to convey. In no way am I advocating that Suárez be benched for a prolonged period of time in favor of Matt Davidson, Kyle Farmer or Christian Colón. In fact, one game may be sufficient enough to get Geno’s attention.

The fact of the matter is, if Joey Votto was slumping as badly as Suárez, Reds fans would be clamoring for David Bell to make. Reds Country would say that Votto can’t hit anymore, he’s overpaid, and should be replaced in favor of Josh VanMeter. Tell me I’m wrong.

The Cincinnati Reds need Eugenio Suárez to be at his best. At the same time, they need to win games. In a shortened season, you cannot afford to wait for players to pick it up. There needs to be a sense of urgency to this season and perhaps Suárez would benefit from a game on the pine.