The Cincinnati Reds have officially made a swap at the hot corner.
Eugenio Suárez is back after battling through an oblique issue, returning to the Reds exactly one month since the last time he played on April 22nd. That will immediately add some more thump to a Reds lineup that has been more thumpworthy of late, and that’s always a welcome thing.
Making way on the active roster for Geno, though, is fellow 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes. The Reds are placing him on the 10-day IL (retro to 5/21) with a bulging disc
in his back as his history of back issues is flaring up once again.
You may recall that Hayes dealt with back problems in mid-September last year after coming over from the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline. You may also recall Hayes dealt with back issues multiple times while still with the Pirates. You may also recall the Reds still opted to acquire Hayes and the remaining $36 million on his contract at no discount.
From a roster perspective, it’s a pretty fortuitous coincidence that these events are happening at the same time. The emergence of Nathaniel Lowe as a bat that simply has to be in the lineup against RHP creates something of a logjam for manager Terry Francona, as he only has 1B and 3B to divvy up between Sal Stewart, Geno, and Hayes when all are healthy and active. The Reds will now be down Hayes’ glove, but adding an All Star 3B in to backfill for that is a problem most every manager would gladly accept.
Hayes’ production had actually ticked up recently after bottoming out at .119/.178/.190 (.368 OPS) on May 2nd. Over his last 14 games he’s hit .194/.237/.306 (.542 OPS), which is almost maybe somewhat kind of sort of close to being enough to allow his excellent glovework to get more than just LIDR usage. It’s still not, but it’s at least a start. Now, though, we’ll wait to see just how much time the Reds give him to get over this recurring back problem, and whether there is any significant change to his approach, swing, or whatever as he works his way back.
