Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Cincinnati Reds teammates Eugenio Suarez and Joey Votto have a friendly competition going during spring training. They want to see who can hit the ball up the middle or to the opposite field more often.

Votto is one of the best hitters in baseball, but he picked a strong competitor in the 24-year-old Venezuelan. Suarez currently leads the contest.

“He’s a tough guy to compete against because he has a nice swing and can do a lot of things with the bat,” Votto said.

In fact, Suarez can do a lot more with it than the Reds initially expected. When the Reds was acquired him from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for starting pitcher Alfredo Simon during the 2014 offseason, Suarez was pegged as a defense-first shortstop. He’d survive at the plate, but wouldn’t wow anyone.

But then Suarez was called up in June, replacing an injured Zack Cozart, and hit .280. In just 398 plate appearances he hit 13 home runs, one more than his full-season best in the minors. His .761 on-base plus slugging would have been second among National League shortstops if Suarez had received enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title.

It was enough of an eye-opener that the Reds gave serious thought to playing Suarez in left when Cozart returned. After Cincinnati traded away third baseman Todd Frazier in the offseason, Suarez was the logical candidate to play every day on the hot corner.

Suarez has hit the ground running in spring training, playing a slick third and hitting .625 in four Cactus League games entering Tuesday. Manager Bryan Price has already penciled him in to hit second in the order.

“I wasn't expecting us to get this kind of an offensive player,” Price said. “I thought we were really getting a defense-first shortstop from Detroit from looking at all the video we saw. Somewhat to my surprise, we've got a really nice offensive player who is going to supply some power, some run production and some outstanding defense at third.”

Suarez credits the power boost to a tweak made by assistant hitting coach Tony Jaramillo, who suggested Suarez incorporate a leg kick when both were in Triple-A last season. Now the focus is shooting the ball to right field.

Suarez has Votto to thank for that. When Suarez was first called up last summer, he wound up in the same hitting group as Votto for batting practice. He watched, listened and learned.

“When you watch Joey hitting, he always tries to hit the ball down the left field line,” Suarez said. “He told me one day, ‘Hey, don’t try to pull it too hard. Everybody knows you pull it. Try to hit it middle-oppo.’ That’s what I do right now, man.”

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The right-handed hitting Suarez was already pretty good at it. Last year 56 percent of his hits went up the middle, a tick better than league average for right-handed hitters. He hits the pitching screen in batting practice so often that members of the coaching staff who throw to him might have shell shock.

But Suarez wants to be better. Last year thirteen percent of his hits went the other way, compared to 19 percent for the average righty batter. He also wants to top his home run total and hit .300 or better.

For Suarez, those goals are realistic.

“I think he’s just getting started,” Jaramillo said. “He was only up there maybe two and a half months. This year, having a full seasons, I think you’ll really get to see the overall product. He won’t let the fans in Cincinnati down.”

He’s just as confident about his ability to play third, and just as focused on maximizing his abilities there. He does a lot of reaction drills with infield coach Freddie Benavides before workouts in the mornings, and also takes grounders from Benavides during batting practice.

Even after Benavides stops slapping baseballs at him, Suarez remains in ready position in order to watch the ball coming off the bat of whoever is in the cage. He has yet to take any grounders at short, the position he’s played his entire life.

“For me, when we play shortstop we can play everywhere,” Suarez said. “That’s why I may look natural. I feel comfortable and I have confidence at third base. I work hard every day.”