The 1 stat that is more alarming than Jose Barrero's absurd number of strikeouts

Jose Barrero has proven one thing since making his 2022 debut for the Cincinnati Reds; he strikes out a lot. The shortstop has 21 strikeouts in 37 at-bats this season. That is not going to cut it.

Barrero has only been in the big leagues sporadically since making his debut midway through the pandemic-shortened 2020 season despite not playing above A-Ball. The 24-year-old is finally being given an extended look at shortstop after replacing Kyle Farmer earlier this month. Farmer has since shifted to third base.

While the strikeouts are a bit alarming, it's not out of the ordinary to see young players like Barrero struggle to adjust to major league pitching. But one statistic that might be more frightening for the Reds coaching staff, and that's the number of walks Barrero has drawn in the big leagues this season.

Reds SS Jose Barrero has not drawn a single walk this season.

Of the 37 at-bats Jose Barrero has seen this season, he has yet to draw a free pass. Barrero, on Sunday, bumped his season batting average (.216) above the Mendoza line, but it's the exact same number as his on-base percentage.

That cannot continue, but it's been a problem for Barrero a year. At Triple-A Louisville, Barrero has a walk-rate of just 4.6% in 237 at-bats after posting a walk-rate of 10.0% in 200 at-bats at Triple-A last season.

Nobody expects Barrero to draw walks at the same clip as Joey Votto, who has 15.8% for his career, but he's got to get his walk-rate to at least somewhere around 8% or more. That's especially true if he's going to continue to strike out at the obscene rate fans have seen through his first 10 games of the 2022 season.

Even the free-swinging Eugenio Suarez, who occupied third base for seven years with the Cincinnati Reds and is now playing for the Seattle Mariners, has a 10.0% walk-rate for his career. Aristides Aquino, who is always a target of Reds Country's anger because of his high number of strikeouts, has a career walk-rate of 9.0%. Jose Barrero must improve in this area.