PHILADELPHIA – For the first time since May, Eugenio Suárez was back at shortstop in the Cincinnati Reds lineup on Friday.
Kyle Farmer, who is playing through a sports hernia injury, had played in 25 straight games after the All-Star break, posting a .359 batting average and .400 on-base percentage in that stretch. Suárez is the only other shortstop on the active 26-man roster.
“He’s played extremely well during that time, so he’s made it tough to take him out of the lineup,” Reds manager David Bell said of Farmer. “There was a couple of days that we talked about and kind of settled on doing it (Friday). So, he’s known about it for a few days. We talked about it at the beginning of the week. We kind of planned it out.”
Suárez moved into a third base platoon with Mike Moustakas when Moustakas returned from the injured list last week. He was expected to start against lefties and Moustakas against righties. With the designated hitter in Cleveland on Monday and a couple of off days for other infielders throughout the week, Suárez has played regularly.
He’s still stuck in an offensive funk. Suárez is hitting .170 with six doubles, four homers and 13 RBI in 88 at-bats following the All-Star break.
