Eugenio Suárez’s struggles have gotten to the point where the Diamondbacks will need to make a decision soon. Suárez is just batting .192 with six home runs, 31 RBI, and a .586 OPS. His overall contribution has been below replacement level, with -0.2 WAR on Baseball Reference.
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Initially his season got off to a good start, recording hits in seven of his first nine games, but it has been downhill ever since. While his April numbers would be acceptable thanks to that hot start, his May and June offense has been less than unsatisfactory. Over that stretch, he’s slashing .156/.249/.279 with four homers and a strikeout rate near 30%. It’s gotten progressively worse, hitting .172 with a .505 OPS in May and .134 with a .555 OPS in June.
The main reason Arizona has been loathe to move on from Suárez has been his steady and reliable defense at third base. While he’ll never be confused for a Gold Glover at the position, he makes the plays he’s supposed to. As it is right now, the organization lacks a third baseman candidate who provides that type of defensive presence. There’s no guarantee that moving on from him will create better results, both offensively and defensively.
The team played Kevin Newman at third base on Thursday against the Twins, although he had a disastrous play as part of that six-run second inning. Their best backup option at the position is the strong-armed Blaze Alexander, although he’s raw defensively. Neither player is more than a band-aid solution, and not a fit to be an everyday player at the hot corner. They don’t have a solution coming from the farm system this season, so they’re either going to have to roll with what they have now or make a trade at the deadline.
One creative solution would be to slide down Geraldo Perdomo and use Newman more at shortstop, but that’s unlikely given manager Torey Lovullo has remained steadfast on Perdomo is their everyday shortstop this season. So they’ll have to ride or die with their internal options, one of them being hoping that Suárez rebounds in the second half of the season.
One other thing to note is the looming roster crunch coming ahead Alek Thomas is on track to come off the injured list over the weekend, so they’ll need move out one of their position players. It’s unlikely they’ll drop Newman, as he’s their backup shortstop, or Jake McCarthy, as he’s hitting well this season. That limits their choices down to Suárez or Alexander.
It would seem impractical to carry five outfielders on the roster, especially when doling out playing time is going to be a major issue. With the DH spot already occupied vs. right-handed pitching with Joc Pederson, the Diamondbacks may have to choose between Jake McCarthy’s offense or Thomas’ defense.
