Eugenio Suárez absence is exposing a terrifying truth about the Reds

The Cincinnati Reds began the year flying high despite not firing on all cylinders. It seemed to foreshadow good things, as you could only imagine things clicking with time and the club getting help back from the IL. However, in recent weeks, the wheels have fallen off. There seems to be a clear line of demarcation — Eugenio Suarez hitting the IL.

Suarez last played on April 22, being placed on the injured list retroactive to April 23 with a strained oblique. At the time, Cincinnati was 17-9 and sitting in first place in the highly competitive NL Central. Since then, the club has gone 5-10, falling into a last-place tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

At the time of his injury, it would have been hard to call Suarez an impact player. Spending most of his time at DH, the 34-year-old slashed just .231/.300/.363 with three homers. That might be better than some anchors like Ke'Bryan Hayes and Matt McLain, but it is an 83 wRC+ performance, which is a far cry from the dynamic power bat the Reds were hoping that they were getting.

The Reds miss Eugenio Suarez in more ways than one

Despite not producing as the Reds had hoped, Suarez's presence in the lineup is important. He has the reputation for being a ferocious slugger, and it's not unwarranted, and that has mattered.

Most commonly, he's batted in the fifth spot behind Sal Stewart. The rookie had been off to an unbelievable start that had us preparing for him to make history. However, since Geno has gone on the IL, the young phenom is slumping hard. From April 23 through May 9, Stewart has slashed just .167/.231/.283. Prior to that, he had hit .297/.389/.615.

Simply put, Stewart was getting a lot more pitches to hit because, even if Suarez had been scuffling, opposing pitchers know that he can turn it on at any moment. On top of that, there's the emotional component to missing Suarez. Geno is a clubhouse favorite everywhere he's played. He has an infectious spirit that buoys his teammates, and he's an important veteran leader.

As the Reds cheered him on during the World Baseball Classic back in March, TJ Friedl explained what he meant to the club from a leadership perspective.

“I only got to play the last month of '21 with him and then he got traded," Friedl said. "But I’ve been playing against him the last four years, so I’ve seen the impact that he has on every team he’s been with. I’m excited to have that in our clubhouse."

The good news is that Suarez is back swinging and working out his core. He's not out of the woods yet, but if all goes well, he'll be on a rehab assignment soon. That will be good news for the Reds. They need Geno back in the worst way, both for his on-the-field and off-the-field contributions.

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