And that forced manager David Bell to play musical positions with his lineup for Friday night’s game in Cleveland, the opener of a three-game series against the Indians.
He moved Mike Moustakas from third base to first base. He moved Eugenio Suarez from shortstop to third base. He moved Nick Senzel from center field to second base.
He inserted Kyle Farmer at shortstop, and Shogo Akiyama came off the injured list to play his first game of the season with a spot in left field. Jesse Winker was the designated hitter.
That left catcher Tucker Barnhart, center fielder Tyler Naquin and right fielder Nick Castellanos as the only players at their natural positions.
Bell said this configuration is not permanent, that he’ll be shuffling the deck like a blackjack dealer. And he is doing it with the consent and, in some cases, the volunteering of his players.
“I think we’ll take this one day at a time,” said Bell of his lineup machinations. “This is all very new. One of the things that makes it very nice is that we have players who are versatile and players who are willing to do what it takes to open up possibilities to have our best team on the field.”
Moustakas owns a first baseman’s mitt, one that he has loaned to Alex Blandino, Kyle Farmer and Tyler Stephenson when they played first base this season. Now he gets to use it for the first time this season. He played a few games at first last year.
“It is going to be fun, going over to play a new position again,” said Moustakas. “It’s exciting. I like first base. It’s a day-by-day thing that we’re going to do.
“I’m at first base in today’s lineup, but tomorrow it may be different,” he said. “That’s a strength we have that we have so many players who can play multiple positions. Having that flexibility is really nice.”
Moustakas moves without a whimper, moves with a smile on his face. And Bell appreciates that a veteran, established player is willing to do what is necessary.
“You want our other players to see that (what Moustakas is willing to do),” said Bell. “He is a good example of what this is all about. It shouldn’t surprise any of us that Moose is that way ... it’s just how he is. It is more important when it is an older veteran who has had a lot of success has stepped up to be a leader on the team.
“For me, I do believe in our guys’ ability to move around and still be productive. I see it as a positive, not only for our team, but for a guy’s career. It makes you a better player. It doesn’t take away from who you are as a player. There is a limit. You have to be smart about it. It is part of what I believe can work.
“The whole key to it is our players buying into it. Without players stepping up and communicating ... it just already confirmed what I already knew about them as team players.”
And Bell said Suarez’ move back to third base is temporary and his shortstop situation is not experimental.
“What he has done is not easy,” said Bell, speaking about Suarez moving from third to shortstop less than 10 days before the season began. “That’s a tough position, the most important and toughest on the field.
“He has stepped in and I see him getting better and better and more comfortable. And that’s going to continue. For it to happen overnight was never the expectations. To m, he has exceeded expectations. And he’ll continue that when the time is right for the team.”
Akiyama, fully recovered from a major hamstring issue, was in left field Friday and Bell said he eventually will play all three outfield spots.
“He adds a very experienced, successful professional bat and a defender to our team,” said Bell. “He is just a very good all-around baseball player. We got a small sample of it the last two months (of last season).”
There were some reports floating that the Reds might be interested in signing recently released Albert Pujols to fill in for Votto. Bell stopped that one quickly.
“That’s not something we’ve discussed, to my knowledge,” said Bell. “We believe in the guys that we have. We really like the mix that we have. As hard as it is going to be to make up for Joey Votto, we are in as good of a position as we can be to try to do that.”
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