Terry Francona is already tweaking Reds Opening Day lineup (and fans should love it)

Save for their long-awaited reunion with veteran slugger Eugenio Suárez, the Cincinnati Reds didn't add or lose much from their starting lineup over the offseason. With so many familiar faces returning to the fray, there didn't seem to be much room for interpretation when it came time to sort out who'd be hitting where.

Yet, just days away from Opening Day, Terry Francona is tweaking what he can. Suárez, long thought to be a shoo-in for cleanup duties, slid back into the No. 5 hole upon returning from the World Baseball Classic. Top prospect Sal Stewart has been trusted with the responsibilities of the No. 4 spot in the batting order.

"It’s not an indictment on Geno by any means," Francona said. "I just think Sal has run the bases so well this spring. I think Geno will have more RBI opportunities.”

The Reds manager said that he wants to drive a wedge between the lineup's two most strikeout-prone hitters (Suárez and Elly De La Cruz). If Stewart lives up to the hype, this change to the (batting) order of operations could have a positive effect on the entire offense.

Reds thrust more responsibility toward Sal Stewart

Stewart's meteoric rise from Double-A prospect to foundational piece of the Reds lineup has been as swift as it was staggering. But Cincinnati isn't wrong to bet on his potential. He hit .255/.293/.545 during 18 games last September before turning on the jets this spring (173 wRC+, 1.065 OPS). It's clear whatever mentoring Suárez did has paid off handsomely.

Francona's comments about strikeouts, however, hit at the heart of the matter. As dangerous as De La Cruz and Suárez are at the plate — they combined to hit 71 home runs last year — neither is the most reliable at generating contact.

There's more data you could point to in order to drive this argument home, but in 2025, De La Cruz struck out in more than 25% of his plate appearances and whiffed on nearly one-third of his swings; Suárez, meanwhile, was even worse in those regards (29.8% strikeout rate, 33.3% whiff rate).

Stewart doesn't have those same flaws. He got rung up more than usual during his brief MLB debut, but he's completely reversed course this spring while drawing more walks and striking out less. He's an on-base machine who should be able to set Suárez up and clean up any of De La Cruz's mistakes.

As always with early season roster tuning, this new template likely won't be permanent. Hot streaks, injuries, or new additions could fundamentally alter Francona's thinking with this group. But as things stand, this new batting order does a nice job of spreading out some of the risk found in the middle of the Reds' lineup.