Fantasy Baseball 2018: Eugenio Suarez needs more love

The Reds have been quiet this offseason. Though, they still have some players with fantasy value, third baseman Eugenio Suarez being one of them.

The Cincinnati Reds finished last in the National League Central standings with a 68-94 record. They did not have a starting pitcher win more than seven games. The offense did more than their part. Speaking of offense, third baseman Eugenio Suarez had a great season and deserves more love.

The Reds don’t have the best offense top to bottom but there are some good hitters to protect Suarez. Guys like Billy Hamilton and Joey Votto ahead of him and Scooter Gennett behind him, Suarez should have his opportunity to hit some good pitches.

It also helps that Suarez will play half of his games at Great American Ballpark. After seeing the stadium in person, it’s no wonder why the home run numbers are inflated there. According to ESPN Park Factors, it ranked 10th in homers and seventh in triples.

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Suarez hit a career-high 26 home runs and 82 RBI. He also scored 87 runs with a .260 batting average. After hitting .248 in 2016, he increased his average while adding some power to his game. Suarez also became more patient at the plate.

He walked 84 times while racking up 147 strikeouts. Suarez lowered his O-Swing rate, swing rate, and swinging strike rate. His walk rate went up two percent while his strikeout rate went down two percent.

The third basemen pool is very deep. The top tier contains about five or six players. The second tier has some great names that could be worth starting in deeper leagues. I’ll talk more about that in my position rankings.

The point is, the position is so deep that Suarez falls outside the top 20 in most rankings. I have him at No. 16, though. His home park and improvements at the plate tilt the scales in his favor. I also don’t have strong feelings for the players I ranked behind Suarez to push him down in my rankings.

I wouldn’t want to have Suarez as my only third baseman. But using him as your corner infielder or utility hitter will get the most out of his ADP. You can easily have a top-five third baseman and draft Suarez in Round 18.

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I don’t think Suarez will reach double-digit steals again (11 in 2016) but pairing his six or seven steals with 20-plus home runs, 80 RBI and a .260 average will make him a top-15 third baseman in 2018.