What's the ideal Cincinnati Reds lineup with the likely addition of the universal DH?

5. Eugenio Suárez, Reds third baseman

If there's one player in the Cincinnati Reds lineup who must improve his performance from last season, it's Eugenio Suárez. The Reds' third baseman was atrocious throughout most of the 2021 season, and a repeat performance would doom Cincinnati's chances of competing in 2022.

However, if Geno gets hit groove back, the entire NL Central better watch out. Suárez has proven in the past how good of a hitter he can be, but a shoulder injury prior to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season seems to have really affected Suárez's swing.

The right-handed hitting third baseman has always been among tops in the league when it comes to strikeout-rate, but last year's numbers were appalling. Suárez struck out nearly 30% of the time he went to the plate.

Now, that's not too far outside the norm, as his career strikeout-rate is 25.6%. But, prior to last season, at least Geno could boast a decent slash line. Before last season, Suárez had a combined wRC+ of 113, but last season that number dropped to 84. Suárez had been worth 12.1 fWAR from 2017-2019, but the last two seasons has an fWAR of 1.6.

If Eugenio Suárez can rebound from his pitiful performance and post numbers that Reds fans are used to seeing, he'll have no problem occupying the fifth spot in David Bell's lineup. However, if Geno continues to struggle, who knows where he'll end up.