Suárez at SS as Reds mix infield playing time

PHILADELPHIA -- The Reds continued to mix and match their infield alignment in Friday's series opener against the Phillies, with Eugenio Suárez returning to shortstop for the first time in two and a half months.

Mike Moustakas started at third base and Jonathan India got the nod at second. Everyday shortstop Kyle Farmer was out of the starting lineup for a scheduled rest day, but he's expected to be back at shortstop on Saturday.

"He’s made it tough to take him out of the lineup. There was a couple of days that we talked about and kind of settled on doing it today," manager David Bell said of Farmer. "Gives Geno an opportunity to play some short, and with our infield situation, that’s a good thing. He hasn’t played there in a while, so getting some innings in will be good."

It marked Suárez's first appearance at shortstop since May 29. Of course, he transitioned back to short -- his original position when he broke into the Majors -- for the 2021 season. He had his bumps, both offensively and defensively, early in the campaign before Farmer ultimately solidified the everyday job in May.

It was around that time, however, that Moustakas landed on the IL with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. That created a logical move to third for Suárez.

"He’s still going to play the majority [of his time] at third base," Bell said of Suárez. "But like I said, with the situation of our infield, it’ll be important that he can [play shortstop]."

With Moustakas back in the fold for the past week, it's been Bell's job to fit five infielders -- Suárez, Moustakas, India, Farmer and Joey Votto -- into four spots. The more versatile each player can be, the more opportunities he will get for playing time, particularly in the cases of Suárez and Moustakas.

"When we talked when Moose came back, I talked to both guys about the situation -- and they understood it," Bell said. "Didn’t accept it necessarily, but they respected it. I also said there’s going to be a lot more playing time than just splitting time at third base. It’s just the way it’s going to be the rest of the way. They’re both going to play a ton."

In eight games since Moustakas' return, he's made three starts at third base -- including Friday -- and one at second base. He's also entered one game as a pinch-hitter and another as a defensive replacement at first base. Moustakas went 3-for-4 with three doubles in his return, but he went just 1-for-10 with five strikeouts over the next four games entering Friday.

Suárez, meanwhile, has reached base safely in 10 of his last 11 games. He has three homers and nine RBIs during that stretch, though he's also struck out 17 times and still has a .174/.259/.373 slash line on the season.

"Both are big parts of this team, and we’re going to need everybody," Bell said. "I think, offensively, Geno has shown some real good signs this week. Like always, just playing with energy. But I think the confidence, even for a player like that, is so important. I think Geno is slowly but surely getting that back with every at-bat, especially this week."