Cincinnati Reds: 3 overreactions from Opening Day loss

The Cincinnati Reds did not get off to a fast start yesterday, falling to the St. Louis Cardinals 11-6. After inducing a ground ball out to the first batter he faced, Luis Castillo allowed the next five Cardinal hitters to reach safely and Dylan Carlson cleared what was left on the base paths with a three-run home run. St. Louis led 6-0 after the first half inning.

It certainly was not the Opening Day that David Bell and the Reds coaching staff had hoped for. While a certain section of fans have the mindset that the sky is falling, I prefer to take a much more optimistic approach. So what are the three biggest overreactions from Cincinnati’s Opening Day loss to St. Louis?

1. Eugenio Suarez cannot play shortstop for the Reds.

Yes, Eugenio Suarez‘s first chance to prove that he can handle the defensive duties at shortstop was a massive failure. In the bottom of the first, Suarez booted a ball, allowing it to reach the outfield and St. Louis’ newest acquisition, Nolan Arenado, crossed the plate making the score 3-0 in favor of the Cardinals. The next batter sent a three-run shot over the wall in right field.

The replay clearly showed that Suarez looked toward second base, hoping to turn a double play, before he actually secured the ball in his mitt. It was his first chance to make a big-time, inning-ending play, and it didn’t go his way.

In the second inning, Paul Goldschmidt sent a sharp ground ball to the hole, and while Geno made a nice play to snag the ball (that was 104.9-MPH off the bat), but an errant throw allowed the Cardinals’ first baseman to reach second base. He would then score on a base hit by Arenado.

Let’s be real, we knew that by moving Eugenio Suarez to shortstop, the Cincinnati Reds were sacrificing defense for offense. Shuffling the infield was the only was to get Jonathan India’s bat into the lineup. Let’s also  not discount that this was Suarez’s first game at shortstop since 2018 when he played a grand total of 11 innings fielding the position.

This will be a work in progress, and it’s not as though Suarez was taking grounders at shortstop and preparing to play the position over the winter. Cincinnati was supposed to find a shortstop via free agency or a trade. They didn’t, so Geno will man the position in 2021. Give him time to adjust. It could be a great thing to have a shortstop capable of smacking 50 home runs.