Third baseman Eugenio Suarez and center fielder Nick Senzel, both key figures in a bolstered Reds lineup, are expected to be “full go” whenever play is able to resume, president of baseball operations Dick Williams told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon this morning. Both players were recovering from shoulder surgery.
Suarez, 28, went under the knife in late January after injuring his shoulder while swimming during an offseason workout. There was some hope that he’d be ready for Opening Day, but that was a best-case and rather aggressive scenario. He didn’t appear in a Spring Training game, although Sheldon notes that he was on the cusp of getting some DH work in Cactus League play when Spring Training was shut down.
The 24-year-old Senzel underwent a much more serious procedure last September to repair a torn labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder. He’d gotten into some spring games as a designated hitter as well but had yet to play in the field.
Given where both were in Spring Training, it’s not exactly a surprise that both are expected to be full strength when “spring” training relaunches — be it in mid-June under the current best-case scenario or a bit further down the road. Still, this is the first public update on the pair’s health provided by the Reds since late March, so the confirmation is of some note.
Both Suarez and Senzel will be prominent factors as the Reds look to snap a playoff drought that dates back to 2013, when they fell to the Pirates in the NL Wild Card game. Suarez took his game to a new level last year, clubbing a surprising 49 home runs — a figure that trailed only Pete Alonso for the NL lead. The slugger has five guaranteed seasons remaining (including 2020) on the seven-year, $66MM extension he inked two years ago, and the Reds control him for 2025 as well via a club option.
Senzel, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft, ranked among baseball’s elite prospects from the time he was drafted until last year’s rookie season. He didn’t exactly take baseball by storm, hitting .256/.315/.427 through 414 plate appearances, but between the September shoulder surgery, a March ankle injury and an elbow procedure that caused him to miss the Arizona Fall League in 2018, Senzel dealt with a number ailments that might’ve weighed down his performance.
Drafted as an infielder, Senzel has worked all over the diamond but was moved to center field last spring. He fared well there, particularly considering his inexperience, and the Reds envision him lining up there more often than not, with the likes of Jesse Winker, Nick Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama flanking him. Of course, as MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently noted, if the Reds are comfortable bouncing Senzel all over the diamond in a super-utility role, that versatility and the likely implementation of the DH in the National League could leave skipper David Bell with innumerable mix-and-match opportunities on a daily basis.
Suarez is so underrated!
Are you sure about thay? I know there aren’t many posts yet but most of them seem to be praising Suarez. I certainly know about him and am quite envious.
Yeah I agree, he’s underrated. I think it has to do with stupid fans and that is the primary reason. Lot of people love me and scream and the concept of it. if you look at Suarez he has been melting home runs for the last 3 years in fact I think only one person has more home runs than him in Major league baseball the last three years which is the Angel super super super powers. That just simply don’t think these days throwinch 10
What happens with scooter?
They will trade him almost months ago
As a Cubs fan I cannot stand Suarez because he owns Cubs pitching, but excellent player.
IMO Suarez is only going to grow as a hitter and fielder. He has a sweet swing and hits the ball up the middle, you can accidentally hit home runs at GABP with that approach. Locking him up at about 11mil a year through 25 is the best move this current front office has made! Can’t wait to get this thing started.
The Reds are the team I am most curious to watch. Who will get the most DH AB’s seem pretty obvious to me; Castellanos. What a win that is for them. Getting his bat in the game without having to add his glove seems pretty huge. I think the Reds will benefit more from the DH than anyone.
You think him DH’ing for an entire season is going to do him any favors once that position disappears for the rest of his deal?
I think my comment was about it doing good for the Reds.
I seriously doubt that they’re just trying to use the DH for this year only. Unless you know something I don’t
I could be wrong, but I believe I read the next CBA to vote for the DH is after the 2020 season. Meaning if we in fact have the DH FOR 2020 (Lord willing we have a season) then we might have already had our last year of no DH in the NL. Talks have been that there is a good chance when they can vote on that again, it’s going to pass. Hell 50ish years ago it was suppose to pass, but a big miscommunication messed that up. If it wasn’t for an old man out fishing with his granddaughter haha.. we’d have it. sportscasting.com/a-fishing-trip-cost-the-national…
I would HATE to see the DH in the NL. People are hell bent to make changes to The Game and I just don’t get it. They need to preserve it, change isn’t always a good thing!