The Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez has reportedly broken his thumb after being hit by a pitch in the game this afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates. A few minutes later, down in Louisville, infielder Alex Blandino was removed from the game. While nothing is official, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon who stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night to connect the dots. Alex Blandino is going to be joining the Cincinnati Reds and taking the spot on the 25-man roster vacated by Suarez when he’s officially placed on the disabled list.
Alex Blandino made it until the final day of spring training before the team decided to send him to Triple-A Louisville to begin the year. He had only played two-and-a-half games with the Bats before he is needing to be recalled to take the spot. In 40 at-bats this spring with the big league club, Blandino hit an impressive .325/.400/.450. That came along with a double, two triples, four walks and just six strikeouts.
What will be interesting is whether or not the Reds play Alex Blandino every day at third base. If he comes up to sit on the bench and play as a backup while the team slides Phil Gosselin or Cliff Pennington into the starting role at third base, the Reds fanbase may watch that be the straw the breaks the camels back, if they haven’t gotten there already. I guess we will find out how things go over the next few days here, but there is no reason that Blandino should not be in the lineup every day until Suarez returns to the lineup.
What about Nick Senzel?
Perhaps the bigger question, though, is, will Nick Senzel come up in a few days to take over at third base? The team will need to keep him in the minors for a few more days in order to secure that “extra year” of service time on the back end before he hits free agency. But, if they call him up and the idea is to send him back when Suarez is ready to return, you are burning an option. Of course, if he just plays out of his mind, you may not send him back and just play him at second base (or even shortstop – though I don’t believe the Reds are leaning this direction based on their actions).